A Personal Reflection on 9/11/2001
September 13, 2021
Twenty years ago, on a beautiful Monday morning in Atlanta, I had just got off the morning investment call at Merrill Lynch. Everyone on the trading floor was charged up for a week full of potential deals. We hunkered down at our desk in front of screens getting ready to go. The perimeter of the trading floor was littered with large TVs, tuned to all the news stations focusing on the market and world events. Fifteen minutes into the day, something strange happened. Every TV in the trading room focused on one picture. One of the World Trade Center towers looked to be on fire with smoke coming from a high floor.
Merrill’s corporate headquarters was at 250 Vesey Street, often referred to as 4 World Trade. The World Trade complex was known for the two twin towers, but the complex consists of 7 different buildings, all close to one another. Our headquarters was a 34-floor building across the street from the two magnificent towers. Each time I went to the NYC office, my head would always look straight up to the heavens at those two beautiful buildings. Today our heads were all glued to the TVs as we followed the fire, unaware of how the next 90 minutes would change our nation forever.
The early story was that a “small plane” had crashed into the North Tower. Of course this all changed at 9:03 am when we saw the South Tower get hit by a massive airline creating a gut-wrenching gasp from us in the room. Immediately over the internal ‘Squawk Box’ used to communicate to all trading and sales offices across the globe, we heard an order: all New York employees were to leave the building immediately. Take nothing, just get out. Our trading screens went dark, and the Squawk Box went silent.
The streets out on Vesey Street were filled with people, all walking north away from the towers. Then the unthinkable happens at 9:59 am, the South tower collapsed. The walking turned into running.
By noon on 9/11, I was safe at my home, waiting to see what was next. The markets stayed closed for a week. During that time, our building would remain covered in debris and concrete dust from the collapse. Small groups of fearless coworkers in New York were allowed to go into the building for only 10 minutes to retrieve critical equipment needed to restart the firm from a backup location in New Jersey. We had no idea if we would ever be allowed back in.
The next few weeks were emotionally draining as information became widespread. The sister of my Merrill partner was attending a business breakfast on the top floor of the North Tower, and my boss from a previous firm was in the South Tower when it collapsed. One of my favorite traders lost dozens of friends. He attended all their funerals. New York, the United States, and the whole world paid a heavy toll. Twenty years later, I still have a hard time going to the memorial site. I will never forget.
Carl Gambrell
