Remembering 9/11 as Minnesotans: Exhibit at MSU this week

Sep. 8—Mariah Jacobsen was a junior at Cretin-Derham Hall High School in St. Paul when the 9/11 terrorist attacks happened.

She remembers watching the news coverage of the attacks after the first plane hit the World Trade Center. Along with the rest of the world, she was shocked. But she felt something else, too: a sense of loss and overwhelming sadness far greater than she could put into words.

"I couldn't shake the feeling that I lost someone close to me that day, but all my known relatives in New York City were accounted for by the end of the day," Jacobsen said. "Still, I confided in my mom that I felt like I'd lost a biological parent."

Unfortunately, her instincts were right.

As an adoptee, Jacobsen always knew there were two people out there in the world connected to her by blood. She just didn't know who. It wasn't until she turned 19 and was finally eligible to request a copy of her birth certificate that she learned the truth.

Jacobsen was right about that dreadful day. She did lose a biological parent on 9/11. And everyone considers him a hero.

Jacobsen, biological daughter of Tom Burnett, remembers sobbing.

"I felt shocked and relieved," she said. "My gut feeling from 2001-2004 had been confirmed. I felt relieved to see his picture because he was the first person I'd ever seen who looked like me."

Burnett was 38 years old when he boarded United Flight 93 on 9/11. Prior to boarding, the Bloomington, Minnesota, native shared the looming sense of doom he had felt at the start of 2001 with his wife over the phone. Similar to Jacobsen, his instincts were sadly right.

Forty-six minutes after takeoff, four Al-Qaeda terrorists hijacked the plane and rerouted the San Francisco-bound flight to Washington, D.C.

Two other planes already had crashed into the World Trade Center, making headlines across the nation and terrifying those on the ground with loved ones in the air. Family members of the United Flight 93 passengers were frantically trying to get ahold of them.

Burnett's wife, Deena, had been successful in phoning him, begging him to stay seated and keep quiet. But the college quarterback had other plans. He recruited three fellow passengers and athletes to take back control of the plane.

Successful in their attempt, the four men were able to crash the plane into a field in Pennsylvania. While none survived the crash, countless lives were saved from it.

"He was a strong, brave man and I felt compelled to honor his legacy in my own life," Jacobsen said about Burnett. "He averted a likely attack on the U.S. Capitol. I wanted to make him as proud of me as I was of him."

Jacobsen plans to do both by participating in a moderated discussion panel about the experiences of fellow Minnesotans during 9/11 on Thursday at Minnesota State University.

Eager to share as much of her and her biological father's story as possible, Jacobsen considers it an honor to be able to do so with college students.

"The events of 9/11 occurred 21 years ago. Most of today's college students weren't even alive when the attacks occurred," she said. "I think it's critically important to continue to tell the stories of those who were impacted by the events on 9/11, especially those who were lost that day."

"The Legacy of 9/11: Four Perspectives" panel is part of a traveling exhibit created by the Minnesota Military and Veterans Museum.

Director of the exhibit Randal Dietrch said that "Resolute: MN Stories of 9/11 and the War on Terror" has been well-received and a joy to work on.

"Unlike other conflicts, Minnesotans were among the first to answer the call and the last to leave the field of battle," he said about the inspiration behind the exhibit. "I've sometimes seen museums wait too long to gather stories and organize oral history interviews. Already more than 20 years removed, I didn't want to risk losing those Minnesota stories. The longer we wait, the more we lose."

The exhibit includes testimonials, archives and artifacts of Minnesotans during 9/11, placing their efforts into the broader context of the long war that came after.

Alongside the panel — organized by Corey China and moderated by Tryg Throntveit of the Minnesota Humanities Center — the exhibit also encompasses a professional development seminar for school teachers and a screening of a critically acclaimed book adaptation of "The Outpost," an R-rated film about a battle during the war in Afghanistan that features 1st Lt. Andrew Bunderman of Bovey, Minnesota.

The exhibit is in Mankato and offered for free to the public due to the efforts of Kyle Ward, MSU associate professor and director of social studies education.

Ward visited the exhibit in the spring when it was in Duluth and knew it was something he wanted to host on campus for both the MSU community and the general public to experience.

He reached out to the museum and MSU's student union to make it happen. The two groups were on board, especially with the 21st anniversary of 9/11 quickly approaching.

"We hope it serves as a learning tool for our students and to recognize those who served," Ward said, adding that he hopes it sparks conversation in the community.

The exhibit will run from Thursday to Sunday before heading to its next destination.

A recent Regional Emmy Award-nominated documentary — which resulted from a series of oral history interviews used in the exhibit — is also available for the public to watch for free on the museum's YouTube channel.