Monday September 11, 2006

Remembering 9/11

I sat very still and silent at lunchtime today watching BBC news on TV which was showing live the 9/11 remembrance events in New York.

Shortly after we married in 1988 my wife and I moved to New York for six months. During that time we grew very fond of the city. We were deeply shocked at all the plane crashes across the USA on that awful day five years ago, but were especially touched by the events at the World Trade Center, which was the end point of my commute to Wall Street as I emerged each morning from the subterranean PATH station.

The TV showed President George W Bush observing the silences at a New York fire station, where he hailed the firefighters who died as heroes. The emergency services in New York did a fine job, but there were also many unsung heroes on that terrible day. A great example is Sun's own hero Avel Villanueva, a Xerox engineer who was assigned to Sun's offices on the 25th and 26th floors of the south tower. I tried unsuccessfully to find an old article that I read the San Jose Mercury News about Avel. However I did find the following extract which shows that without Avel's unselfish actions 9/11 could have been a very different day for Sun Microsystems and its New York based employees.

Taken from a HAPA Newsletter. HAPA is an organization for the advancement of Hispanic engineers within Xerox.

During the tragic event one of our very own, Avel Villanueva, was recognized as a hero. Avel has been a Xerox employee for 8 years. He has worked 7 of those years on the Sun Micro Systems account. He was promoted to Facilities Coordinator when Sun moved from 1 New York Plaza to 2 WTC in February, 1999. He is the father of 4 children; ages 14-21.

Here is a recap of the events on Tuesday 9/11/01:

* After the initial impact, Avel looked out of the window and saw a huge hole in 1 WTC. He went to the Regional Director, John O'Donnel, and told him that he was going to evacuate Sun employees.

* He paged everyone to leave the building as quickly as they could stating “Please, with calmness, go to the nearest exit. This is not a drill. Get out.” He repeated this from the reception area several times.

* He went to the 26th floor to make sure that everyone was out. He repeated his page at every phone he passed.

* He went back to the 25th floor and did a walk through while paging at every phone.

* He returned to the copy center for his personal belongings and made a final page to evacuate the building.

* He left. Approximately 3 minutes later, the second plane hit 2 WTC. Avel left the building alive.

Avel's actions saved the lives of many. A Sun Microsystems executive stated, “Avel unselfishly placed the safety and well being of the Sun employees located on the 25th and 26th floors of Tower 2 before his own health and safety. In my book, Avel is a hero!”

One Sun Microsystems employee did die on 9/11. Phil Rosenzweig was on American Airlines flight 11. Rest in peace.

Posted by mikebelch ( Sep 11 2006, 05:04:36 PM BST ) Permalink Comments [0]