Story perspectives

Aon Evacuates South Tower, Saving 924 Employees

9/8/2026

Summary

Aon Evacuates

Aon evacuated its south-tower staff after the north-tower hit, saving 924 employees from the second crash.
Cantor Fitzgerald lost 658 workers in the north tower, the highest corporate death toll of the attacks.
Aon, with 60,000 staff, ranked 308th on Fortune 500 and lost 176 employees in tower two.
Greenwich recorded 32 deaths linked to the attacks, the highest casualty count among Connecticut’s 169 towns.

Summary

Meyer Flags 9/11

Retired firefighter Godfrey Meyer flies an American flag each September 11 in Biloxi, Mississippi.
Meyer wears a Rescue 2 shirt given by a New York firefighter’s son.
Jeff Coombs Foundation has raised over $1.2 million for families impacted by 9/11.
Brian Fay’s family founded a nonprofit to help Massachusetts residents with ground-zero breathing issues.
Rosemary Cain recalls her son George Cain, an FDNY firefighter whose remains were found on New Year’s Eve.

Summary

Clark Rescues

Brian Clark escaped the South Tower after the second impact and rescued a man on the 81st floor.
Clark and the rescued man sheltered in a nearby church before the tower collapsed at 9:59 a.m.
Keating Crown survived on the 78th floor as one of twelve rescued from that level.
Todd Beamer, a Wheaton Academy graduate, died on United Flight 93 after urging “Let’s roll.”

History

Historical Context

The February 26 1993 World Trade Center bombing, which killed six people and injured over a thousand, exposed vulnerabilities in the towers' security. The FBI’s subsequent investigation recorded 1,200 evidence pieces, and the Port Authority allocated $400 million for structural upgrades by 1995. Today, Aon’s evacuation of 924 staff, Cantor Fitzgerald’s loss of 658 workers, and the Jeff Coombs Foundation’s $1.2 million fundraising echo the 1993 tragedy’s emphasis on emergency response and corporate sacrifice. The 1993 attack’s lessons prompted stricter building codes and coordinated rescue protocols that shaped the heroic actions of Brian Clark, Todd Beamer, and countless first responders in 2001.

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Aon Evacuates

Aon evacuated its south-tower staff after the north-tower hit, saving 924 employees from the second crash.
Cantor Fitzgerald lost 658 workers in the north tower, the highest corporate death toll of the attacks.
Aon, with 60,000 staff, ranked 308th on Fortune 500 and lost 176 employees in tower two.
Greenwich recorded 32 deaths linked to the attacks, the highest casualty count among Connecticut’s 169 towns.

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