Never Forget: Honoring the Victims of 9/11

World Trade Center of Greater Philadelphia remembers and honors those that lost their life, their families, and the many first-responders who paid the ultimate sacrifice on that day. 

As a world trade center, we are forever identified with this tragic time in our country’s past and yet our mission encourages us to believe in a more promising future where fostering trade among nations leads to greater understanding and cooperation, shared prosperity, and peace. 

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"On that Tuesday morning, I did not know that fourteen years later, I would lead the World Trade Center of Greater Philadelphia.  I was barely four months into my job as Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Trade Development, attending a meeting in upper Northwest DC.  Suddenly, the meeting organizer was interrupted by her military aide, whispering in her ear.  She abruptly concluded the meeting, as we gasped at the jumbo screens with scenes of the burning Towers. People emptied from the building, hastily trying to make cellphones work.  A colleague and I grabbed one of the few taxi’s and made it back to the Commerce Building adjacent to the White House.  The scene was out of a disaster movie with cars jamming the streets in a hurry to leave DC and what was believed to be an impending strike at the White House or Capitol Building. I got in my car and made my way across the River to Virginia, where I will never forget the plumes of smoke rising from the Pentagon.

Safely at home, the phone rang.  It was Commerce Secretary Don Evans checking to see if everyone was ok. I, like so many others, will never forget that day."                      

 Linda Conlin, WTCGP President

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"The 82nd floor of WTC South Tower where I had worked with many Fuji Bank colleagues and friends holds a special place in my heart for the majesty of the building and more-so the for the wonderful people who shared it, many who lost their lives in the direct hit to the floors at Fuji Bank and all those who perished.  My prayers still go out to the many families that are forever changed with the loss of loved ones.  There is not a day that goes by where the memory of 9/11 and the commitment to the ideals of the WTC concept and global WTC network are not at the forefront of the work I do at the WTC Greater Philadelphia for the WTC vision of prosperity and peace.  May we always remember!" 

 Ron Drozd, WTCGP Manager - Export Services

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"At the age of 16, I worked my first summer temp job as a file clerk at One World Trade Center. I was on top of the world... literally, and as any New Yorker would tell you, the "Twin Towers" were what made our skyline shine the brightest. As I watched TV in horror while the tragic events of 9/11 unfolded, all I could think of was my sister Maria, who worked for the Wall Street Journal, and told me she had a morning appointment in Tower One.  It wasn’t until late that night that my family heard from her and she recounted that she decided she would stop at a coffee shop several blocks away instead of her usual coffee place inside Tower One." 

Graziella DiNuzzo, WTCGP Director of Communications

"In remembrance of my late college classmate, Barbara Bejoian, who recounted to me her harrowing walk towards the WTC that morning from NYU, where she was a visiting professor, through smoke, dust and people everywhere, and the hopeless feeling as she walked back uptown to her apartment on the Upper West Side when she realized she couldn’t help. I am so grateful for all those that were able to respond and remember those who lost their lives on that harrowing day."

Susan Farrington, WTCGP Office Manager and Membership Coordinator

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"Thank you to all the first responders, the bystanders and building workers who helped and sacrificed on that tragic day. Your strength and courage in that moment will never be forgotten."   
         
Marcos Reynaga, WTCGP Marketing Manager

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Read more 9/11 Tributes from the WTCA Network and the WTCA Facebook page.