Yes, we do have REAL American heroes!-----Mike Rowe’s Brilliant Response to the Kaepernick Nike Ad-from 2017

Mike Rowe’s Brilliant Response to the Kaepernick Nike Ad

"...In response, Rowe wrote the following:

...But if I was going to put someone's face on a billboard - someone who epitomized bravery and sacrifice - I might have gone another way, especially this time of year.

I might have gone with this guy - Tom Burnett.

Tom's last act on earth was one of the most courageous things imaginable. 

And his last words to his wife, Deena, are among the most inspiring I've ever heard. 

Those exact words are at the top of this page, and the bottom. 

They were spoken seventeen years ago, under conditions I hope to never experience. I'll never forget Tom's last words. I hope you won't either.

Transcript of Tom's Last Calls to Deena

• 6:27 a.m.( pacific time) First cell phone call from Tom to Deena

Deena: Hello

Tom: Deena

Deena: Tom, are you O.K.?

Tom: No, I’m not. I’m on an airplane that has been hijacked. 

Deena: Hijacked?

Tom: Yes, They just knifed a guy.

Deena: A passenger? 

Tom: Yes.

Deena: Where are you? Are you in the air?

Tom: Yes, yes, just listen. Our airplane has been hijacked. It’s United Flight 93 from Newark to San Francisco. We are in the air. The hijackers have already knifed a guy, one of them has a gun, they are telling us there is a bomb on board, please call the authorities. He hung up.

6:31 Deena calls 911...

• 6:54 a.m. Fourth cell phone call to Tom to Deena

Deena: Tom?

Tom: Hi. Anything new?

Deena: No

Tom: Where are the kids?

Deena: They’re fine. They’re sitting at the table having breakfast. They’re asking to talk to you.

Tom: Tell them I’ll talk to them later.

Deena: I called your parents. They know your plane has been hijacked. 

Tom: Oh…you shouldn’t have worried them. How are they doing?

Deena: They’re O.K.. Mary and Martha are with them.

Tom: Good.

(a long quiet pause)

Tom: We’re waiting until we’re over a rural area. We’re going to take back the airplane.

Deena: No! Sit down, be still, be quiet, and don’t draw attention to yourself! (The exact words taught to me by Delta Airlines Flight Attendant Training).

Tom: Deena! If they’re going to crash this plane into the ground, we’re going to have do something!

Deena: What about the authorities?

Tom: We can’t wait for the authorities. I don’t know what they could do anyway.

It’s up to us. I think we can do it.

Deena: What do you want me to do?

Tom: Pray, Deena, just pray.

(after a long pause)

Deena: I love you.

Tom: Don’t worry, we’re going to do something...

(Transcript from the Tom Burnett Family Foundation.)