The dictionaries definition of a hero is a person noted for feats of courage or nobility of purpose, especially one who has risked or sacrificed his or her life. In looking at this definition the first thing that pops into my mind is September 11th. There were many heroes during these tragic events. One of the heroes that comes to mind was Tom Burnett Junior. He was part of the group of passengers from flight 93 who stopped hijackers from reaching there destination.
On the horrific morning of September 11th there were three targets plotted by the terrorist. The twin towers, the pentagon, and possibly the Whitehouse. The twin towers and the pentagon were unfortunately successfully attacked by the terrorist. However the fuel loaded Boeing 757 heading towards Washington D.C. was overtaken by the passengers. The man who stuck out the most in the story of flight 93 was Tom Burnett Junior.
Tom Burnett Junior was just like any normal passenger until Hijackers took control of the plane. Tom then used his cell phone to call his wife Deena. He gave his wife the flight number of the doom stricken plane and a description of the hijackers. He told her to alert the FBI. On the third phone call Deena told Tom about the attacks on the Twin Towers and the Pentagon. Tom now knew were the hijackers were headed. Tom realized he was going to die, and many more people were going to die if they did not do something to stop the plane from reaching its final destination.
On the last phone call to Deena tom told his wife "a group of us are going to do something." Shortly after Deena heard the the words "You Guys Ready? Okay Lets Roll" and that was the end of the phone call. No One will ever know exactly what Tom did next. But piecing together information from phone calls and cockpit voice recordings, investigators say that he and several other passengers rushed the cockpit to wrest control from the hijackers. A few minutes later the plane crashed in a empty field in Pennsylvania.