RealAudio

	Some 50 people lined the street outside St. Edwards Catholic Church before the funeral service of Tom Burnett Jr. Burnett was killed on the hijacked airplane which crashed in Pennsylvania. Burnett is believed to have thwarted the hijackers' attempt to crash the plane at a target in Washington D.C. (MPR Photo/Tom Scheck)

Hundreds of people attended the two-hour service to remember the Minnesota native. In the church lobby, a photo collage of Burnett was plastered on five large black poster boards along with a letter from President Bush offering his condolences to Burnett's family.

Many of the church-goers remember Burnett, 38, as the quarterback of Bloomington's Thomas Jefferson High School or as a University of Minnesota alum. Others who attended didn't know him at all, yet still wanted to pay their respects.

Nearly 50 people lined up outside of the church and waved American flags and held signs calling Burnett a hero. Most in the crowd had never even heard of Burnett until his plane crashed in Pennsylvania last week.

Meg Nordlie says she wanted to honor Burnett after learning that he and other passengers may have stopped a plan by hijackers to crash their plane into another national landmark. Investigators are still trying to determine what caused the plane crash, yet Nordlie says Burnett will always be a hero to her.

"I feel very indebted to him, thinking about all of the lives he saved. If that plane had gone into another building, we owe him a lot. I'm very proud of him and I'm so grateful to his parents that they raised such a wonderful son," she said.

Inside the church Burnett's parents, family and friends discussed how much he loved his family. Keith Grossman, Burnett's colleague at their California medical technologies company, said it wouldn't surprise him if investigators announce that Burnett and other passengers sacrificed their own lives to save others.

"What I do know is that United flight number 93 was the only element of a terrorist attack that failed at its evil and destructive goal. Now I don't know what happened in those dark moments high up in Pennsylvania, but I think I know enough. And I don't doubt for a moment that Tom was not only involved but he helped lead that effort," Grossman said.

Burnett's older sister, Martha Burnett O'Brien, says she's struggling with her brother's death, partly because she didn't see him the last time he visited the family in Minnesota. It was a week and a half before his death.

"I didn't know it was going to be my last chance. I regret not making time, not catching him before he flew out. I figured that I had a lifetime of opportunities to do that. And in the course of this loss, our country has gained a hero," she said.

Burnett O'Brien urged churchgoers to focus on Burnett's last words to his wife before his plane crashed. He told his wife "we've got to do something" when he learned about the tragedy at the World Trade Center. Burnett O'Brien said her little brother would be happiest if everyone in the audience at least did a little something to improve the country after last week's tragedy.