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Feb 9, 2010
August 2006 letter from Capt. Tom Heidenberger, who lost his wife Michele on AA Flight 77:
September 01, 2006
Darren:
There are not enough words to express my gratitude to you, the members of AFA and in particular to the Flight Attendants that saw us off when we began the Ride. You cannot imagine the emotion of that moment....F/A's in uniform brought back memories, albeit fond memories of Michele. Thank you.
Airline employees are special, a breed apart and I am so proud to part of this noble profession. Since that day, we have seen bankruptcies, concessions, furloughs, etc...but through it all we still get back on the airplane with a smile. There is no other profession that has given so much and still the people that make up the industry still prevail! Bravo!
Again, my sincere thanks for not just remembering Michele but for remembering the 33 crewmembers and the other innocent victims of that day.
Thomas Heidenberger
August 2006 letter from Capt. Tom Heidenberger:
One day in September 2001 changed our lives forever. As a country we lost our innocence. In many respects, from that day forward how we live whether we lost a loved on or not - each of us was in someway affected. That one day started what we now know as the “War on Terror”. That one day brought us together as a country; it rekindled the spirit that carried America through two world wars, a civil war and a war for independence. Sadly, as we approach the five year anniversary of that day we are forgetting or losing sight of the “first of the combatants in the War on Terror, the first of the first responders, the first to sacrifice their lives”. The 33 crewmembers who perished that day aboard the 4 hijacked airliners.
The 33 crewmembers led that day in the War on Terror, as evidenced by some of their heroic actions: Flight Attendant Betty Ong (AA11) telling the authorities of the hijacking and identifying the hijackers; Flight Attendant Sandy Bradshaw (UAL 93) taking pots of hot water as weapons to re-take the cockpit; of Captain Victor Saracini keeping the cockpit microphone open which allowed the authorities to know that that flight was in distress; of Flight Attendant Rene May (AA 77) phoning the authorities and letting them know the status of that flight. The crewmembers reassured and attempted to protect their “charges” - the passengers. The 33 all fought back in some way...the 33 all led the way. Sadly, we either were not aware of their actions or we have forgotten them.
Recently, during the ground breaking ceremonies at the Pentagon I was reminded as to why I rode a bicycle for 33 days across the country - each day is dedicated to the crewmembers that perished that day; to keep the memory of the victims alive; to tell their story and that of the 3 memorials of 9/11. One needs only to look at the remarks by Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld and others during the dedication where no mention was made to and of the crewmembers. They were the “first of the first responders” and were the “protectors” of their passengers and sadly have become the first to be forgotten.
On this fifth anniversary, let us take a moment to remember the 33, just as we remember the other 3000 innocent victims of that day. As you travel, when you see a pilot or a flight attendant, think of the 33, their heroic actions and thank them (the pilot or flight attendant) for making you not necessarily comfortable but safe. Let us also remember the brave young men and women who now defend us in the war on terror.
Lastly, let us remember the courage each and every American showed in moving on from the day terrorists attacked our country.
Captain Thomas P. Heidenberger
June 2006 letter from Capt. Tom Heidenberger:
To All:
I hope that you take a moment to read this...
Yesterday, I was at the ground breaking ceremony for the Pentagon Memorial; one of the 3 memorials paying tribute and honor to the sacrifice 3000 innocent Americans made on September 11, 2001. What I found deeply disturbing is the fact that there was no mention whatsoever of and to the CREWMEMBERS; remarks by Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld during the ceremony: "passengers and Pentagon employees" and in the media (both print and TV-radio) no mention was made to the CREWMEMBERS.
Many of you know that I just completed a bike ride across the country in an effort to being about awareness to the 33 crewmembers who were killed that day. Many of you also know that I am trying to raise $300K (of which I have raised $125K) to present to the 3 memorials of 9/11 (Pentagon, Shanksville, WTC) in the name of the 33 crewmembers. In many respects, we've crossed the "starting" line of the ride by telling the story of why the ride took place.
Why $100K for each memorial? The Pentagon Memorial, for example, has publicly stated (through media reports) that donors over $100K will be acknowledged in some fashion (case in point yesterdays ceremony where the big donors were recognized).
The crewmembers were the "first of the first responders" and sadly they are the first to be forgotten. In my opinion, the best way to make sure that they are remembers is by presenting a large check this September to the Memorials.
I ask that you help me. If you have already donated, please tell your friends, tell your colleagues, tell all about the need to have the 33 remembered. Please, if you have not done so, make a donation at and via the website www.airlineride.org. If you desire to send a check, the address is posted on the site. This is not about one; it is about the 33 and their sacrifice and keeping their memory alive.
Thank you all.
Thomas Heidenberger
240-994-6833
The Airline Ride Across America Store
ALL Proceeds Donated To Ride! Over $1,000 Raised From Merchandise So Far!
The Ride concluded at the Pentagon on May 9th - purchase souvenir T-shirts, jackets, sweaters, buttons and mugs to support the fundraising efforts to raise money for the 9/11 Memorials. ALL proceeds from the merchandise purchased from the link below will be donated to the Airline Ride Across America! This is the ONLY official store for the Ride.
Purchase From The Official CafePress Store
There is no better way to honor our 33 crewmembers, the "First of the First Responders."
It is the intent of the Airline Ride Across America to facilitate the completion of the 9/11 Memorials and give the 3000 families and America a place to honor, a place to remember, and a place to reflect the victims of that day.
The Journey Begins
Flight attendants send off Airline Ride Across America
By Darren Shiroma, LEC President - LAX Council 12
[04.02.06] Los Angeles, California -- AFA-CWA Council 12 LAX active and retired members stood in uniform alongside the core group of riders from the Airline Ride Across America as they prepared for their journey across the U.S. The cross-country ride is a tribute to the 33 crewmembers our community lost on 9/11 and the ride is scheduled to take a total of 33 days - one day in honor of each crewmember.
The morning was crisp and clear as flight attendants from United and American gathered with the support team for the core group riders which included our own Captain Rob Zettel (DCAFO) from United Airlines. We were addressed and thanked by both Captain Tom Heidenberger and Sheri Burlingame - both of whose spouses were aboard AA Flight 77 that September day almost five years ago. Tom is a US Airways captain who lost his wife, Michele, a flight attendant aboard AA Flight 77, and Sheri is a retired AA flight attendant who's spouse was Captain Charles "Chic" Burlingame, the captain of American Flight 77.
As we gathered in a circle around Tom and Sheri, Captain Tom Heidenberger reflected on why he's been able to carry on and move forward. He told us that the love, support and the family-spirit within our industry has given him hope - and kept his spirits afloat. He stated that he "could not have made it without the support from fellow crewmembers." He also stressed the importance of our combined efforts to ensure that we sustain their remembrance and make sure we never cease in honoring our fallen crewmembers. Sheri echoed similar heartfelt sentiments and told us how moved and touched she was to see flight attendants in uniform there to support the send-off.
We were both proud and humbled to be there to send the riders off into the beautiful sunrise and across the country as airplanes soared from LAX into the blue skies above us. We encourage you to visit the website (www.airlineride.org) to help spread the word in all of our communities about this ride that will benefit lasting memorials to our fallen heroes and in honor of the work we do everyday. We are reminded how tightly bound our ties are within the airline community and within our flight attendant ranks. Our combined strength, mutual support and the unity we express are keys to our continued survival in the years to come.
We shall always remember and we will never forget our heroes...
© 2006 AFA-CWA Council 12 Los Angeles. All Rights Reserved
Excerpt from AirlineRide.org at start of Ride:
The Ride Begins. Rob Zettel standing outside the RV at Dockweiler Beach just prior to departure. For more pictures from this day, please visit AFALAX.ORG. The following images re-posted with permission from Darren Shiroma, LEC President, AFA-CWA Council 12 LAX.
An emotional start at Dockweiler Beach. We were sent off on our way by both current and retired airline employees and many other. There were 12 United Flight Attendants there, representing the 12 killed on 9/11. The day was sunny and bright just like 9/11....the ride started out with a moment of silence, a group thought of Chic Burlingame for whom the start was dedicated to. No more fiting tribute to a leader amongst the crewmembers of 9/11: the Captain of AA 77.
The Ride through LAX: greeted by the airport police, led through the upper level by the LAXPD Bicycle Squad.....at the departure of LAX we were saluted by the squad...a fitting send off.
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Click image below for LAX event photo page
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Special thanks to the following flight attendants:
Jan Heistermann, AFA-CWA RMC President
Carolyn Wood, AFA-CWA RMC Vice-President
ML Anderson, AFA-CWA RMC Secretary/Treasurer
Linda McCarty-Blumenthal, LEC EAP Chair
Amy Disparte, LEC EAP Committee
Vicki Jurgens, LEC Safety, Health & Security Co-Chair
Linda Farrow, LEC Grievance Committee
Karla Kessler, LEC Reserve Committee
Lynn Statham, LEC Website Committee
Jennifer Lepez
Darby Elkins |
© 2006 AFA-CWA Council 12 Los Angeles. All Rights Reserved
L.A. Times Article
Bicyclists Roll Out Cross-Country Tribute to 9/11 Flight Crews
By Carla Rivera, Times Staff Writer | April 3, 2006
On a clear, crisp morning Sunday, Sheri Burlingame huddled in the cold at Dockweiler State Beach, planes from Los Angeles International Airport roaring overhead, and remembered another bright morning five years ago when her husband kissed her goodbye and boarded an airliner headed for L.A.
He would never arrive. Capt. Charles F. Burlingame was piloting American Airlines Flight 77 on Sept. 11, 2001, when it was hijacked and crashed into the Pentagon.
"Chic" Burlingame was one of 33 crew members on four United and American flights hijacked by terrorists that day. On Sunday, at the end of a runway at LAX, family members and colleagues began a journey to honor their memory and those of the nearly 3,000 others who perished in the attacks. The Airline Ride Across America is a cross-country bicycle ride intended to raise money for the Pentagon Memorial, the Flight 93 National Memorial in Pennsylvania and the World Trade Center Memorial. The five riders who set out will pedal for 33 days through more than a dozen states with stops along the way in Shanksville, Pa., and New York City. They are scheduled to end May 9 at the Pentagon. "I think it's a wonderful way to pay tribute to all of the crew members," said Burlingame, who lives in Nashville and will drive the support vehicle. "It's an emotional trip but I think a healing process for us." The ride is the brainchild of Thomas Heidenberger, a US Airways pilot whose wife, Michele, was a flight attendant on Flight 77. Heidenberger, 59, said he got the idea about six months ago, flying out of L.A. for the East Coast on a crystal clear morning of blue skies similar to 9/11. A triathlete and marathoner, he began seriously preparing in November, quickly winning sponsors and donations of equipment and other support. He set up a website, http://www.airlineride.org , to chronicle the ride's progress and hopes to raise $100,000 for each memorial. Just as important, he said, is to recognize the sacrifices of crew members who lost their lives. "I don't want them to be forgotten," said Heidenberger, who lives near Washington, D.C. "This is an effort to tell their individual stories, because that's never been done before." Darren Shiroma was one of several active and retired flight attendants who came out Sunday to support the ride. Many were dressed in blue uniforms and wore white ribbons. "Every day flights take off and land, we have those crew members in our thoughts and it's important that they're never forgotten," said Shiroma, a union representative for United Airlines in Los Angeles. "They died in the line of duty, and with all of the heightened security concerns since 9/11, flight attendants are on the front lines." Mark Clark, a San Francisco-based pilot for American Airlines, said he needed no persuading to join the ride. In 2001, he was flying transcontinental flights on a 767 from the West Coast to New York and Boston. It could just as easily have been his plane that was targeted, he said. "For a while I had been thinking that the lives of the crew members had sort of got lost in the shuffle," Clark said. "I'm an avid cyclist, so when I heard about the ride, I thought what a great way to memorialize them." Though he is an experienced long-distance cyclist, the ride will be a challenge, Clark said. The participants plan to travel at least 100 miles and as many as 160 miles a day during the first two weeks. They will take a southerly route to the Dallas-Fort Worth area then head northeast, where they expect to hit hilly terrain through Tennessee, Kentucky and West Virginia. A different crew member will be honored each day, and one flight will be honored each week. The other riders are Robert McGee, who works in passenger services for US Airways in Tampa, Fla.; Paul Guttenberg, a pilot for American Airlines who lives in Davis, Calif.; and Rob Zettel, a pilot for United Airlines based in Washington, D.C. The road to the Pentagon will be especially rough for Heidenberger and Burlingame. "The last leg will be the most emotional," Burlingame said.
From www.airlineride.org:
"As airline employees we have seen first hand and experienced the devastating effects of September 11, 2001 on us and our families. There is no better way to honor the memory of the thirty three crewmembers than with a donation to Airline Ride Across America because these thirty three individuals were the first of the first responders of that day, who made the ultimate sacrifice and sadly are becoming the first to be forgotten.
In the memory, in the honor and in the name of the thirty three crewmembers, all proceeds of the Ride will go directly to the three memorials of September 11, 2001: The Flight 93 Memorial in Shanksville, the World Trade Center Memorials and the Pentagon Memorial."
Information from MEC site
This weekend will mark the beginning of a bicycle trek across the United States in honor of the crew members of United and American flights 93, 175, 11 and 77. Airline Ride Across America will celebrate the courage of these crewmembers and raise money for the Flight 93 Memorial in Shanksville, the World Trade Center Memorials and the Pentagon Memorial. The participants of the trek, including United Captain Rob Zettel (DCAFO), will ride thirty-three (33) days, one day in memory of each crewmember to raise public awareness of their sacrifice, sustain their memory, and insure that they will not be forgotten.
The journey starts at 8:00 am Sunday, April 2nd at Dockweiler Beach which is adjacent to LAX. Los Angeles AFA Members will attend the start of the ride in uniform. We encourage every Member to follow the bike ride through the website, www.airlineride.org and help spread the word in all of our communities about this fantastic tribute and cheer them on their way across the country.
Visit the Tribute Page on our site
Ride To Remember 9/11's Forgotten Victims
by Lesli Foster
To some, they are the forgotten heroes of 9/11. The pilots and flight attendants who lost their lives trying to save others aboard the four doomed planes.
But, if Tom Heidenberger has his way, their sacrifices will never be overlooked.
As an airline pilot for 35 years, Capt. Tom Heidenberger has logged thousands of miles in the air. Now, just months away from retiring, he'll travel the country by bike, pedaling a message about 33 men and women who flew on Sept. 11.
Heidenberger's wife Michele was on board American Airlines flight 77 that crashed into the Pentagon. He and others touched by 9/11 will be part of the Airline Ride Across America.
The idea came to Heidenberger during a flight last year. "Why it dawned on me in the southern California desert, I don't know. But I thought what a way to honor the 33."
Heidenberger hopes to raise $100,000 for each memorial at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and in Shanksville, Pa.
So, Heidenberger will lead bikers on a cross country trek next month that starts in Los Angeles and ends up at the Pentagon. Each day will be devoted to a member of the 9/11 flight crew.
Riding 100 miles a more each day will be tough. But the hardest part of this ride for Tom Heidenberger will be the last day."
"The last day, it will be for Michele," he said.
He knows there are some tough days ahead. But, he believes 3,300 miles are worth devoting to the crew members who gave their lives that fateful day in September.
A 9/11 Widower's Ride of Remembrance
Md. Man's Journey To Honor Victims, Benefit Memorials
By Timothy Dwyer | Washington Post Staff Writer
Thomas Heidenberger was at the controls of a U.S. Airways Airbus 321, climbing out of the Los Angeles basin heading back to the East Coast, when the idea for the bike ride hit him.
It was Oct. 13, 2005, which had no special significance to him except for the weather. "I've got the best seat in the house, in the cockpit, and so I get to see things that other people don't get to see," he said. "But that particular day it dawned on me that it was exactly like 9/11/2001. Blue sky. Clear. Clean. . . . Boom, a light went on."
He always thinks of his wife, Michele, on his trips to L.A. because that's where she was heading as a flight attendant on American Airlines Flight 77 when it was hijacked and crashed into the Pentagon on Sept. 11. Heidenberger, 59, a commercial airline pilot for nearly 40 years, is a member of the board of the Pentagon Memorial Fund, but he decided to do something on his own to raise money.
So high above the Southwest, he decided to put a bike ride together.
He'd ride for his wife. He'd ride for all 33 crew members who were working on the four flights that were hijacked on 9/11. And he would ride for the 3,000 people who died in the attacks.
He will ride to raise money for the Pentagon Memorial, the Flight 93 National Memorial in Somerset County, Pa., and the World Trade Center Memorial. He hopes to raise $100,000 for each memorial.
He is calling his bike ride "Airline Ride Across America." He and four other riders will start the trip at Dockweiler Beach, at the end of the runway at Los Angeles International Airport, on April 2, and they will ride for 33 days.
They will pedal through 14 or 15 states -- the route is being planned -- and end at the Pentagon on May 8 after stops in Shanksville, Pa., and New York City.
Heidenberger began organizing the cross-country bike trip in the kitchen of his Chevy Chase home. Yesterday, evidence of his planning was spread across a small round table in the corner of the kitchen: letters, files, contact information for state police departments from one end of the country to the other. Downstairs is a stationary bike that he rides every day to get in saddle shape. Two outdoor bikes are at the ready for nice days.
When he speaks of his wife, his eyes fill up. She is the one who worked and supported him when he was studying to be a pilot. She was always there at the finish line when he ran marathons or competed in biathlons. "Sometimes she would ride her bike beside me when I ran," he said.
He decided he wanted to raise awareness as well as money after talking to people across the country.
"Once you leave Washington, D.C., or the Beltway or you leave New York itself, people don't know enough about 9/11 because they don't know anyone who was directly impacted by it," he said. "As I have been flying across the country I have been trying to figure out how to get some money for the Pentagon Memorial, and I thought, 'Hey, what a great way to do this.' "
He established a Web site, http://www.airlineride.org , to solicit donations. Within 48 hours of putting up the site, he began to hear from families of the 33 crew members. One person donated $10,000, he said, and other contributions from $5 to $1,000 have come in through the Internet.
He does not want to limit the ride to the five core riders. Others have told him they want to join the trip for a segment or a day and get sponsors to support their rides. In addition, rallies are planned with U.S. Airways employees in Phoenix, near the airline's headquarters, and with American Airlines employees in Dallas, that airline's home base; other rallies might be added along the route.
Each of the 33 days of the ride will be dedicated to one of the crew members. Each week of the four-week cross-country journey will be dedicated to one of the four flights.
Sitting on the sofa in his living room, decorated with family pictures of him, his wife and their daughter, Alison, 24, and son, Thomas II, 18, he talked about the outpouring of support he has encountered.
"I don't start at the bottom; I start at the top," he said of his organizing efforts. "I contacted the governors of the states we will go through, asking both for support and for information . . . as far as making this happen. Then I went to the departments of transportations and the state police. To show you how supportive everyone has been, within 48 hours of first contacting them, I got permits to ride through Los Angeles. The California Highway Patrol is going to pick us up at Dockweiler Beach, and they are going all the way to the Arizona border with us."
He said he has commitments from the state police in every state except Tennessee. "They said they never do anything like this and they are afraid to set a precedent."
James Laychak, president of the Pentagon Memorial Fund, said he was excited about the bike ride and hopes to saddle up for the final leg of the journey. "I think it is outstanding, not only as a way to raise money but to raise awareness, not only for the Pentagon Memorial but for all the memorials," he said. "This will just catch everyone's attention."
Laychak said about $9.8 million has been raised for the Pentagon memorial. He said $20 million is needed for construction and an additional $10 million for an endowment to maintain the memorial. He said the goal is for construction to begin this year and for the site to be dedicated in 2008.
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