A Perspective from One of Our Own

Monroe County reader Frank Seigel wrote to us this week, unprompted, with his 9/11 story. We printed his story in his own words.

I was in the 92nd floor of the south tower on September 10, as a consultant to Aon. I was there as part of a team to help set up a new computer system to digitize their files, and electronically access them from anywhere in the country. They were ahead of the game in that respect. Unfortunately, or fortunately, as the case may be, there were workmen in the area and they disconnected certain cables, which made their local computer network that we were to use inoperable. (there was no ethernet at the time just cable.) As a result, we were sent home at noon or so on September 10 with the instructions to return at 9 AM on September 11. Later in the afternoon on September 10, our team received a phone call from Aon that the repairs had not been made and the Aon folks wanted an extra day to make sure that the system was working, so they asked us to return on Wednesday, September 12.

G-d just didn’t want me to die that day, but my friends at AON weren’t so lucky. The senior vice president of Aon, responsible for that office, who was pregnant at the time, and whom I knew from a previous employment, ended up being trapped in a subway when the building collapsed and perished. Fortunately, she never made it to her office, which overlooked, on one corner, Liberty Island, and the other corner down the Hudson River. She would’ve had a direct view of the plane coming directly at her.

Like my friend, I have never visited the Memorial, although I intended to, and will watch the ceremonies tomorrow out of respect. My office will be closed as well, out of respect.

Thank you, Frank, for sharing your story (and thankful fate kept you with us!).