dojP000427.xml

dojP000427.xml

born-digital

email

yes

no

2002-02-06

Wednesday, February 06, 2002 3:45 PM
(no subject)

My father was a Security Officer in Building Two
on the . he had been looking for a job desperately after being
released from a job whre he worked 24 years as an executive designing
Sprinkler Systems. He was in his late fifties and had the hardest time
finding a job. The home they lived in all my life for 34 years was coming
into financial problems, so my dad knew he had to act fast.

He knew that his salary would drop considerable but he needed the job and due
to his age he wasn't getting many other offers. My mother was a Secretary
and did not make enough money to support all of them. They both adopted my
niece since she had been 3 months old. She was now attending Catholic School
in Brooklyn and her tuition needed to be paid. He received an opportunity to
work as a Security Officer. The salary was low but it was a job and he
desperately needed one in order to support his family and save his home.

He had to attend training classes and these classes included video tapes and
he had to have knowledge of the exits and stairways. Of course this
information isn't as useful when you have a terrorist attack like this one.
I don't believe any of us ever took into consideration that our father was
puttinghis life in danger. I don't believe we thought about the attack that
occured previously. We were all relieved that Daddy had gotten a job because
we knew how important it was to him. My father took this jjob very seriously
and the people that worked there loved him.

At my fathers memorial I had the opportunity to talk to most of the people
who worked on his floor they all told us of the events of that day and where
and what my father was doing. He was calm they said and he evacuated them
and showed them where the exit to take was/ One ot the young men said he
oiffered to help my father but my father yelled at him to get his ass out of
here he could handle things. He went to evacuate others, after that he was
never seen again.

My father was a Security Officer and I am surprised that no one is taking
into consideration that fact that alot of Security Officers lost their lives
as well as Firemen and Police Officers. My father was assisting people to
evacuate. If his job was to work at a desk like everyone else he would have
made it out of the building, because he would only be responsible for
himself. But he was to evacuate personnel that worked there that was his job
and responsibility. Now my mother who has been married and never seperated
from my father in 34 years is being told that based on the fact that my
father was 61 years old and only made a minimum salary, his life isn't worth
as much as anyone else because he would have retired in four years.

My father is a Vietnam Veteran, he was in the Airforce as a medic in Vietnam
from 1963 to 1969. At the age of 61 he was trim and in good health. He ran
6 miles a day and ran the New York State Marathon for many years. He was
responsible for taking care of his 96 year old mother.

I miss him so much. I have never known my parents to be apart for so long.
The house is filled with his memory. My mother has not been able to return
to work since September 11th. She is depressed and cries alot. Things she
never had to do alone before she now has to learn to do. My niece of which
my mother and father adopted has lost another father to Violent Crime. Her
father had been murdered three years before and now her grandfather which
assumed the role of her father has been murdered . She has a blank stare. I
want justice for my mother and my niece and my grandmother. I can't take
away their pain or mine. My dad was special and unique and many people would
have loved to have known him. I know he was doing his job when he died. He
just didn't realize that the building would collapse in the interim. He has
worked hard all his life and paid taxes all his life just like every other
hard working American citizen and even served his country.

I do not believe that the Security Officers/Guards are being given fair
consideration. Please reconsider your decision. You cannot put the Security
Officer in the same category as other Personnel that were not hired for
Security purposes. While everyone was trying to escape and save themselves
my dad was showing them the way.

Individual Comment

2002-02-06