A Place for Remembering
Heroes Garden to be Dedicated as a Lasting Tribute to Freedom’s Heroes of 9/11
By Jerry Derloshon

On the eve of the sixtieth anniversary of the bombing of Pearl Harbor, a retired Navy chief petty officer walks slowly aboard the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial in Honolulu, Hawaii. A member of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association, 83-year-old Jefferson G. Maner stands solemnly as he gazes upon the names of the 1,177 crewmen who perished aboard the ship on December 7, 1941.

It is a date that he—and we—will never forget, not just because of the horror, but because of the greatness of the American people who shouldered the weight of the tragedy. I remember the courage, the dedication, the resolve, Maner says. I remember the will to fight for what was right.

As the day comes to an end, an orange sky frames the white memorial. Visitors catch the fading glimpse of the ship’s shadow beneath the waters as the darkness surrounds her. The memorial is both a fitting tribute to the brave who are entombed in her hull and a reminder to all of the enduring spirit of freedom for which so many sacrificed their lives.

On September 11, 2001, a new generation of Americans awoke to find their world altered—their nation under attack. It was a new fear for many, and a searing memory for Americans of Maner’s generation. Just three months before the United States would have marked the sixtieth anniversary of Pearl Harbor, terrorists shocked the world by carrying out a deadly assault on America, claiming thousands of innocent lives in New York, at the Pentagon, and in an open field outside Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

Thomas E. Burnett, Jr.

While the fires still smoldered in the rubble of the World Trade Center and smoke still billowed from the gaping hole in the Pentagon, Americans began to search for an appropriate way to pay tribute to those who died on 9/11. And in the western Pennsylvania farmland where United Flight 93 crashed, killing forty passengers and crew, civic officials and members of the community discussed creating a lasting memorial on what was soon regarded as hallowed ground.

At Pepperdine, the desire and perhaps even the need to do something special in response to 9/11 was realized shortly after the University received news about an alumnus of the Graziadio School of Business and Management— Thomas E. Burnett, Jr.

Burnett was not only a passenger on Flight 93, but from all accounts he was one of the leaders of the passenger revolt that kept the plane from hitting other major U.S. landmarks and possibly ending thousands more lives. The heroic act claimed Burnett’s life and the other passengers and crew members. Their sacrifice humbled a nation.

A Place for Remembering

Memorials have a way of connecting one to the past—freezing a moment in time.  Such places of remembrance allow people insight into events that they may not otherwise understand. As a first-time visitor stands at the Pearl Harbor memorial, they can see the ship, imagine the people who walked her decks. And they can stand shoulder to shoulder with a survivor like Maner and understand his tears, perhaps shedding some of their own for a time and a loss they didn’t experience themselves.

There are some events, some people, that must be remembered. To forget them—to lose sight of them—would be to lose sight of a distinct piece of our heritage.

Before September 11, Pepperdine, with the significant support of Seaver Board of Visitors member Pierre Claeyssens, had begun work on a Military Honor Garden in the Stauffer Chapel Courtyard to pay tribute to courageous Pepperdine alumni who have served in the military. And even before that garden’s May 22, 2002, dedication date, Pepperdine had already begun the planning for a place specifically set aside for honoring the heroes of September 11.

This year, on September 11, coinciding with Founder’s Day, Pepperdine University will dedicate a second place of remembrance, the Heroes Garden, to stand as a lasting reminder of freedom’s heroes, including Tom Burnett, Jr.

At one of the highest points on the Malibu campus, the garden will be constructed on the new Drescher Graduate Campus, across from the future Graziadio Executive Center.

Deena Burnett and her three daughters.

It will be a place of honor, facing the expansive Pacific Ocean and offering a view that is as inspiring as it is beautiful. On September 11, President Andrew K. Benton and invited guests will formally dedicate the Heroes Garden. Envisioned as a place to reflect and remember, future generations will have the opportunity to recall and honor the heroism of people they will never know—people they must never forget.

While still in the planning stages, preliminary plans for the garden describe a winding walking path, a flagpole with the nation’s colors waving in the wind, and a few benches for visitors to sit and meditate on the words inscribed on a plaque at the base of the flagpole. The plaque, surrounded by flowers and landscaped terrain, will acknowledge the memory of those for whom the memorial will be created.

At the Pepperdine Associates Dinner on April 9, President Benton presented Mrs. Deena Burnett, Tom Burnett’s widow, a replica of the plaque. He read to her the following inscription:

Dedicated to freedom’s heroes of September 11, 2001, and the passengers of United Airlines Flight 93, among them Pepperdine alumnus Thomas E. Burnett, Jr., who sacrificed their lives to overcome terrorists intent on destroying American lives and landmarks in our nation’s capital. We shall never forget. Dedicated September 11, 2002, Pepperdine University, Drescher Graduate Campus.

The presentation to Deena, and her remarks to dinner guests afterward, capped a stunning occasion that included a stirring keynote address by retired U.S. Army General Norman Schwarzkopf and a patriotic vocal performance by members of the Pepperdine Concert Choir.

Burnett was regarded as a natural leader by those who knew him best. He was a standout athlete who played quarterback in high school in Blooming, Minnesota, and at St. John’s University for two years, prior to completing his undergraduate degree at the University of Minnesota’s Carlson School of Management. He attended the Presidential/Key Executive (P/KE) program at Pepperdine’s Graziadio School of Business and Management, receiving his M.B.A. in 1995.

By Deena’s own telling, her husband of nine years thought of himself as anything but a hero. He was a man who, at thirty-eight, held a senior executive position at a respected medical device company headquartered in Pleasanton, California. He was a loving husband and father who adored his three young girls. He worked hard, was respected by his colleagues, and, on a daily basis, practiced quiet acts of integrity, honesty, respect, and kindness toward those with whom he came in contact.

Addressing the Distinguished Alumni Dinner audience on November 13, Deena said, I want you to know, while he will be remembered as a hero, he was much more than that.

He was a man of heartfelt compassion, deep convictions, love, and had a keen sense of right and wrong, and he believed that morals and values were not debatable. To have died with such honor and valor is befitting of my husband.

His actions, and those of his fellow passengers, are a call to each of us to stand for our beliefs and convictions, Deena continued. If he were here tonight, he would ask you to go one step further and to honor him by living a life worthy of those who have died for our freedom, and to remember that heroes can give their lives all at one time, or they can give a little each day.

In further testimony to the courage displayed by the crew and passengers of Flight 93, U.S. Senator Arlen Specter (R-Pa.) introduced legislation to award posthumously the Congressional Gold Medal—the highest expression of national appreciation Congress can bestow—to all forty heroes.

A Woman of Courage

Tom Burnett’s sudden passing on September 11, and the historical significance of the events of that horrible day, turned Deena’s life upside-down. In the aftermath of the tragedy, her courage, strength, and faith brought her widespread admiration and respect.

Once a wife and stay-at-home mom, Deena has stood in the spotlight for only as long as necessary to thank those who have been close to her since that tragic day, or to do what she could to honor the memory of her husband, Tom.

Last September at the White House, Deena told President George W. Bush of her desire to hear the Flight 93 cockpit recording. After months of quiet persistence, she and other family members of the passengers of Flight 93 met in Princeton, New Jersey, and listened to the cockpit tapes. In spite of the horror that the tapes revealed, she said hearing Tom’s voice was a beautiful gift.

Deena attended a memorial dedication in her husband’s honor at Thoratec Corporation where Tom had worked, and she took part in a ceremony in Pleasanton, California, to dedicate a street named in Tom’s memory.  Later, she made an emotional trip to her husband’s crash site where she attended a Catholic Mass.

To honor her husband’s memory with his former classmates, professors, and friends of the University, Deena attended the Pepperdine Associates dinner on April 9, where she accepted a replica of the plaque that will adorn the Heroes Garden.

Just as Jefferson Maner wept as he read over the names of his friends and countrymen who sacrificed their lives at Pearl Harbor, those who visit the Heroes Garden on the Pepperdine campus in the coming years will find a place to reflect on the memory of September 11 heroes. They will read a few simple words and recall the sacrifice by persons who gave freely their most precious gift.

We will never forget.