25 Years Later, Remembering September 11
Editor’s Note: As part of CommPRO’s remembrance of the 25th anniversary of September 11, I also spoke with Larry Weber about that day and what has stayed with him. One thing he said has stayed with me, too: “We were together on 9/11.” Read my conversation with Larry Weber here.
It is hard to believe it has been 25 years since September 11.
I was working at Burrelles at the time and was in New Jersey for an early meeting that morning. Like everyone else, I watched what was happening with disbelief, trying to understand how this could possibly be real. Very quickly, it also became clear that I wasn't getting back to New York anytime soon.
I still remember my boss turning to his assistant and saying, “Find Fay a room. She's going to be here for a while.” I have never forgotten those words. That was the moment it really began to sink in. I wasn't going home that night, New York had been attacked and nothing about that day was going to be normal.
What stayed with me was the realization of how quickly life can change. We go to a meeting, head to work, make plans for later and assume we'll be home that night. Then, in the blink of an eye, everything can be different. Twenty-five years later, that feeling is still very real to me.
We all remember September 11 in our own way, where we were, who we were with, who we called and the people we worried about. For this anniversary, I reached out to people in our community and asked one question:
As we mark 25 years since September 11, what do you remember most, and what has stayed with you personally or professionally?
Their answers brought back memories of that day, but even more, they brought back the people.
Patrice Tanaka, Founder & Chief Joy Officer of Joyful Planet LLC and Joyful Planet Foundation, shared how September 11 changed the way she thought about her own life:
“In the wake of 9/11, I was haunted by the nearly 3,000 people who went to work that day and never returned home. I wondered if they were ‘good to go,’ having done what was most important before they died. Post 9/11, I discovered and began to actively live my life purpose: ‘Choose joy. Be mindful of joy. Share joy with others.’ I have been living this purpose now for nearly 25 years and I am ‘good to go’ every/any day.”
For Ken Kerrigan, Head of Internal and External Communications at UHY-US, the memory is deeply personal and is about someone who showed him what leadership looked like when it mattered most:
“There are thousands of names that need to be remembered on September 11th, but for me one is deeply personal – Jim Speros. Jim was the CMO of Ernst & Young on that day and my boss. After the second plane hit Jim went from office to office making sure each of us left the building. He didn’t leave until the last of us was gone. In the lobby he found people individually to ensure we each had somewhere to go.
“When the city started to come back to a new normal and we returned to the office Jim called us all into the conference room. We shared a profound moment of silence and held hands. He said a brief non-denominational prayer.
“It was then that I fully understood what corporate leadership looked like and what it meant for colleagues to truly become a team.”
Peter Himler, Founder of Flatiron Communications LLC, was at Burson's Park Avenue South office that morning:
“It's hard to believe 25 years have passed since that fateful day in September 2001. When I arrived at my office on Park Ave South, a group of my Burson colleagues were there pressed against the south-facing window as smoke billowed from one of the twin World Trade Center towers. Someone suggested a small plane had collided into that NYC edifice on whose ground floor CNN had its first New York bureau. Moments later, the second tower was on fire and we all knew something was terribly amiss.
“I phoned down to our TV studio to dispatch a camera crew to the roof to capture what was unfolding before our eyes. Meanwhile, Burson CEO Chris Komisarjevsky had already formed a crisis steering committee whose first task was to determine if any staff or clients were unaccounted for. We proceeded to meet several times a day, while Chris disseminated regular staff and eventually client update memos.
“A former U.S. Army helicopter pilot, Chris steadily steered the firm through this existential moment. I will never forget and will always remain grateful for his leadership in 9/11's aftermath. After it was eventually deemed acceptable to re-start client work, it was, for me, an especially gratifying assignment: representing United Way of NYC's September 11th Fund.”
Johna Burke, FAMEC, AMEC Global Managing Director, remembers watching the second plane hit and trying to understand what she was seeing:
“I remember watching the second plane hit the World Trade Center on live television and just sitting there, paralyzed. My brain couldn't process that this was real and not something from a Hollywood film.
“I was meeting two friends for breakfast to talk about IABC. We sat at the table listening to a radio for whatever details we could get. We didn't solve any IABC business that morning, but we were together. Listening, talking and trying to make sense of what was happening eased some of the anxiety of simply not knowing. On the drive into the office, my mobile rang. A colleague in New York said, ‘Have you seen what's happened? Arizona might be next. Be careful.’ I still remember the fear and uncertainty in people's voices as they tried to reach loved ones.
“That has stayed with me. In moments of crisis, I still find peace in listening, staying calm, being present and having empathy for people in crisis, both near and far.”
Simon Erskine Locke, CEO of CommunicationsMatch™, was in Tokyo and on a weekly call with his Morgan Stanley colleagues when the first plane hit:
“Twenty-five years ago, on September 11, I was in Tokyo watching CNN. I was on a weekly call with my colleagues at Morgan Stanley when the first plane hit. First there were reports of a fire at the World Trade Center, then we saw images of the destruction and the second plane hit.
“My colleagues dropped off the call as the magnitude of what was happening took hold. We had almost 3,000 people in South Tower. It took several days for a clear picture of the casualties at Morgan Stanley to emerge, and most powerfully, an individual story of heroism that saved the vast majority of employees on a day when so many others were killed.
“Morgan Stanley lost 13 people, among them Rick Rescorla, the director of security who saved thousands by evacuating employees after the first tower was hit. He lost his life going back to help evacuate more people after he had organized the evacuation of the Morgan Stanley offices. He was posthumously honored with the Presidential Citizens Medal, the nation's second-highest civilian honor, and will forever be remembered for his bravery. His story was the basis of a book, which in turn became an opera, and was the basis of a documentary.”
Helio Fred Garcia, President of Logos Consulting Group, remembers another side of what happened after September 11:
“In the immediate aftermath of 9/11 we saw troubling signs of ugliness in the name of Old Glory. Soon after the terrorist attack we saw innocent Muslim women and children, whose mosque windows had just been shot out, taunted by thugs waving American flags and cheering USA! USA! Asked by a television reporter what he was doing, one thug proclaimed, ‘Supporting the US of A.’
“An Arizona man shot and killed a Sikh gas station owner and tried to kill a man of Lebanese descent and another of Afghan descent. As he was arrested the assailant justified his rampage shouting, ‘I stand for America all the way.’ Another Sikh was killed with a baseball bat soon after the terrorist attack. The two Sikhs who were murdered were neither Muslim nor Arab, but they wore turbans. Because many Americans don’t have a nuanced view of foreigners, anyone who looked South-Asian was at risk.
“Frankly, our country doesn’t have a very good track record at mobilizing the masses against a foreign threat. Solidarity quickly mingles with and morphs into aggression and leads to suspension of our most cherished values.
“If anything, this trend has accelerated and intensified in the 25 years since that horrible day.”
Reading these reflections, I keep coming back to the people and the moments that have stayed with each of us. Patrice remembers the people who never came home and how that changed the way she chose to live. Ken remembers Jim Speros and what he learned about leadership. Peter remembers Chris Komisarjevsky taking charge when people needed him. Johna remembers sitting with friends and simply being together. Simon remembers Rick Rescorla going back to help others. Fred reminds us of a difficult part of the aftermath that also needs to be remembered.
There is also something here for those of us who have spent our lives in communication. On September 11, there were no perfect words and no playbook for what was happening. What people needed was honesty, calm, information when it was available and leaders who understood that taking care of people came first. Reading these reflections 25 years later, I don't think that has changed.
Twenty-five years later, the details are different for each of us, but we remember the people, the fear, the kindness and the moments that changed us.
And we remember how quickly life can change.
