A father protests Flight 93 memorial

Tom Burnett Sr. wants to withhold the name of his son, who died in the crash, over the Islamic symbolism he sees in the design.

By Her, oacute;n M and aacute;rquez Estrada, Star Tribune

Last update: August 18, 2007 - 10:55 PM

Tom Burnett Sr., the Northfield man whose son was killed on Flight 93 when the hijacked airliner crashed in Pennsylvania on Sept. 11, 2001, wants his son's name withheld from a planned victims' memorial because he finds the crescent design and other features offensive because of what he said are their Islamic symbolism.

Burnett Sr., who was on the panel that picked the winning design in 2005, originally named the "Crescent of Embrace," was on the losing side of the 9-6 vote to approve the design.

Burnett's 38-year-old son, Thomas E. Burnett Jr., died with 39 other passengers and crew when Flight 93 crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pa., while flying to San Francisco from Newark, N.J.

Investigators said the hijackers crashed the craft when passengers, led in large part by Tom Burnett Jr., rushed the cockpit to try to regain control of the plane.

On Saturday, Burnett Sr. said he wants an investigation into why -- two years after he raised his objections -- the planned memorial will still have such things as the crescent, stars and a tower that he sees as Islamic symbols.

Burnett Sr. said that he would rather not withhold his son's name from the memorial but that he can't get anyone to listen to his concerns.

"It has all kinds of Islamic symbols on it," Burnett said of the memorial by Paul Murdoch.

Artist responded to critics

The artist has already changed the memorial's planned shape to a nearly full circle in response to critics who said the original crescent shape honored the Muslim extremists who carried out the attacks.

The crescent is considered by some a Muslim symbol.

"It would be like putting a Nazi flag at the cemetery in Normandy or putting a Japanese flag at Pearl Harbor," Burnett Sr. said. "That is what this is akin to."

Burnett Sr. also said he is looking for a "thorough, honest investigation" of the design and the elements.

He said that when news leaked out Saturday about his objections he received a call from Rep. Jim Ramstad.

"He said he agreed with me," Burnett Sr. said.

Ramstad couldn't be reached for comment on Saturday.

The planned memorial's design has been the subject of controversy almost from the start.

Targeted by bloggers

It has been a target of conservative bloggers such as Alec Rawls of Palo Alto, Calif., who is reportedly writing a book on the subject.

Burnett Sr. denied Saturday that he is following Rawls, even though both have raised similar concerns.

"I am following no one's lead," Burnett said. "I'm the one who brought the symbolism to the committee two years ago."

He did say that he and Rawls have talked over the years and that both agree that the planned memorial faces toward Mecca, Islam's holiest city.

Rawls also contends that a planned 93-foot tower with wind chimes would act as an Islamic sundial.

Joanne Hanley, superintendent of the Flight 93 National Memorial, said Rawls "bases all of his conclusions on faulty assumptions."

Burnett Sr. said Saturday that Murdoch and other "experts" told him that the original crescent design fit with the area's topography and that the stars and tower are common design features.

"I think that they made up their minds that this was a pretty design," Burnett Sr. said. "They didn't consider the clash between the symbols and the American people, such as my son, who died on that flight. ... I'd like to know how we ended up with this Islamic memorial."

Herón Márquez Estrada • 612-673-4280

Herón Márquez Estrada • hme@startribune.com

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