Remembering
On 11 September 2001 at 8:46 American Airlines Flight 11 was crashed in the North Tower of the World Trade Center. It cut through the floors occupied by the New York offices of Marsh. On that day 295 employees and 65 contractors employed by Marsh died, most instantly. For one employee it was her first day on the job.
I work for Marsh out of the Toronto office. One of my Canadian colleagues, Bernard Mascarenhas, was in the WTC at the time. His phone call was suddenly ended when the plane crashed into the building and he died. Our main board room, in Toronto, is now named in his honour. More details about this man can be found here, http://memorial.mmc.com/pgBio.php?ID=173
I had been with the company not quite a year and thus I did not know any of the victims from my company. Still the death of so many colleagues told me that it was my way of life that was under attack. Any of the office towers in North America including the one with my desk could be targets. Very sobering.
Every September I wear a Company supplied pin to remember this tragedy. It has the words, 'Semper Unitas', which translates to 'Always United'. There is a memorial wall in New York City at our corporate headquarters on the Avenue of the Americas. I must go there someday and pay my respects.
http://memorial.mmc.com/index.php
Today I will go to work for Marsh. I'll actually be flying inside Canada and then driving across into the USA. The memories of my fallen colleagues will be on my mind.