i use to work for the brokerage company whose home office was at the world trade center. I had been in that first building a number of times. always scared the hell out of me at some level. on the upper levels you could feel the building sway in the wind. at the ground level you really could not see much or any of the sky it was so tall.
i remember a broker that worked there i was in a training class with. he had a bum/stiff leg. I doubt he got out.
for me, i was watching a computer at the time it happened, stock market, and went to t.v. for the repeat of the flyin.
knew a number of people in those buildings. i think a lot of us that were stockbrokers at the time had friends or acquaintnces in those buildings.
one must keep in mind most if not all of those hijackers were saudi's. i hope they got their rewards as to the virgins.
meaning catholic nuns with big clubs.
a dog religion, a dog culture.
and no, i have neither forgot or forgave.
just riding those high speed elevators in that building gave me the willys.
I remember visiting the Sales office we had in the WTO too. It was our largest sales office because the big banks and brokerage firms were some of our largest customers. Our office was there before the first time they tried to blow it up in 1993. All our guys were in the office and had to walk 70 floors down, but that bombing was pretty ineffective so everyone got out safe. After the 93 bombing the WTC really beefed up their security procedures and I remember how much time it took to get into the building when I visited. Since this was before 9/11 high levels of security were still the exception and it really stood out to me. I remember saying to one of the sales managers on a visit that this was now one of the safest buildings in the world. How wrong I was.
On 9/11 all of our guys were out of the office on sales calls so none of our employees were injured. But one of our former executives had a son on flight 93. I was told he gave quite a eulogy at his sons funeral.
