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Tom Michaud Recounts 9/11 Survival and KBW's Resilience After Devastating Losses

Tom Michaud Recounts 9/11 Survival and KBW's Resilience After Devastating Losses

Tom Michaud, now CEO of KBW (Keefe, Bruyette & Woods), shared his harrowing experience of surviving the 9/11 attacks and the subsequent efforts to rebuild the investment bank. Michaud, who worked on the 89th floor of the South Tower, narrowly avoided being in the building due to a slight delay in his morning commute. He witnessed the attacks unfold and the collapse of the towers, losing 66 colleagues, including his direct boss and many from the research, sales, and trading departments. In the immediate aftermath, Michaud and the remaining leadership faced the immense challenge of deciding the firm's future, ultimately choosing to rebuild rather than pursue a planned acquisition. The firm established the KBW Family Fund to support victims' families and worked tirelessly to reconstruct records and operations, reopening for business less than a week after the attacks.

Army Engineers' Pre-9/11 Pentagon Reinforcements Credited with Saving Thousands of Lives

Army Engineers' Pre-9/11 Pentagon Reinforcements Credited with Saving Thousands of Lives

On September 11, 2001, as a hijacked commercial jetliner crashed into the Pentagon, pre-existing reinforcement work by U.S. Army engineers is being credited with significantly mitigating casualties. Dr. Paul Mlaker, who retired from the U.S. Army Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) in 2015, was on-site cataloging damage shortly after the impact. The Pentagon, built in 1941, had undergone a five-phase renovation effort prioritizing safety and stability, initiated in response to troubling world events like the 1993 World Trade Center bombing and the 1995 Oklahoma City bombing. The first phase of this renovation, focusing on 'Wedge 1' of the building, had been completed just days before the attack. This work included blast-resistant windows, ballistic materials, and wall reinforcements, which were originally intended to protect against threats like truck bombs. Despite the horrific nature of the attack, which killed 125 military and civilian workers, the structural integrity provided by these rein...

NASA Astronaut Frank Culbertson Observes 9/11 Attacks from International Space Station

NASA Astronaut Frank Culbertson Observes 9/11 Attacks from International Space Station

On September 11, 2001, NASA astronaut Frank Culbertson was the sole American in space, serving as commander of Expedition 3 aboard the International Space Station (ISS). From his vantage point, Culbertson witnessed the tragic terrorist attacks unfolding in New York City, Washington, D.C., and Pennsylvania. He described seeing a large cloud of debris covering Manhattan, which he characterized as a painful sight, akin to seeing a wound on his country. Culbertson was part of a three-man crew, which also included Russian cosmonauts Vladimir Dezhurov and Mikhail Turin. His observations from orbit provided a unique and somber perspective on one of the most significant events in U.S. history, highlighting the global reach and impact of the attacks.

Nashville Tennessean

How 9/11 inspired Dolly Parton to write her prayerful song 'Hello God'

How 9/11 inspired Dolly Parton to write her prayerful song 'Hello God'

In the wake of 9/11, Dolly Parton penned a prayerful song that would later appear on of her Grammy-nominated albums, 'Halos & Horns.'

Short Workouts Boost Brain Function After Sleep Deprivation, Study Finds

Short Workouts Boost Brain Function After Sleep Deprivation, Study Finds

Short Workouts Boost Brain Function After Sleep Deprivation, Study Finds

The Columbus Dispatch

How will we never forget? We're doing a poor job handing off memory of 9/11 | Opinion

How will we never forget? We're doing a poor job handing off memory of 9/11 | Opinion

The reason for 9/11 should never fade into the background noise of a long weekend like so many other national holidays have.

Brooks Brothers Store Near World Trade Center Served as Makeshift Morgue After 9/11 Attacks

Brooks Brothers Store Near World Trade Center Served as Makeshift Morgue After 9/11 Attacks

A Brooks Brothers store located at One Liberty Plaza, adjacent to the World Trade Center, was utilized as a makeshift morgue following the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. According to Michael Bastian, Brooks Brothers creative director, the men's shirt department of the store was transformed into a holding area for human remains recovered from the World Trade Center rubble. These remains were kept there until they could be transferred to the New York City's Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for identification. The store, which had previously been a place where job candidates would prepare for interviews in the Twin Towers, sustained significant damage when the towers collapsed. Despite the damage, the location reopened exactly one year after the attacks. The store eventually closed in 2018 due to planned renovations and relocated a few blocks away. Bastian, who was flying back from Paris on 9/11 and landed in Nova Scotia due to the national ground stop, still finds it difficult to look at images f...

Detroit Native Recounts First-Hand Experience at Ground Zero During 9/11 Attacks

Detroit Native Recounts First-Hand Experience at Ground Zero During 9/11 Attacks

Laura L’Esperance, a Detroit native, shared her personal account of being at Ground Zero during the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. On that day, L’Esperance was just five days into a new position at Merrill Lynch, located in the World Financial Center, directly across from the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan. She was beginning her workday, conversing with her new boss, when she heard the initial plane crash into the North Tower. L'Esperance described running to the windows and witnessing dark smoke. Shortly after, the second tower was struck, followed by the collapse of the South Tower. She recalled the debris and a massive cloud tumbling down rapidly, prompting her and others to flee the area. Her full account was shared via a video player, detailing the terrifying moments as the events unfolded.

Detroit Free Press

Bringing Margaret home: Detroit family's search for daughter after 9/11

Bringing Margaret home: Detroit family's search for daughter after 9/11

From the archives: As the nation dealt with terrorism angst, a Detroit family traveled to New York in search of a daughter lost after 9/11.

Each 9/11 Hijacker Team Included a Pilot Trained to Take Control of the Plane

Each 9/11 Hijacker Team Included a Pilot Trained to Take Control of the Plane

The September 11, 2001, attacks were not random acts of violence but a meticulously planned operation executed by 19 al-Qaeda terrorists. These ind...

President Trump's Shifting Accounts of 9/11 Experiences Draw Scrutiny

President Trump's Shifting Accounts of 9/11 Experiences Draw Scrutiny

President Trump has offered multiple, often conflicting, accounts of his experiences during and immediately after the September 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. During a recent ceremony honoring first responders and victims' families, President Trump described taking a construction crew to Ground Zero shortly after the attacks, a claim he later clarified to be 'shortly thereafter' and not on the same day as the collapse. He also recounted a dramatic story of being lifted and carried out of the 'creaking' U.S. Steel Building (now One Liberty Plaza) by two firefighters, an account that lacks corroboration. Previously, President Trump has claimed to have watched the second plane hit the World Trade Center from his Trump Tower apartment and to have personally seen people jumping from the Twin Towers, despite not mentioning these details in a live broadcast on 9/11. He also famously claimed to have witnessed thousands of Muslims celebrating in New Jersey, a claim that has been widely disproved. These varying narrat...

President Trump Makes Unsubstantiated Claims Regarding 9/11 Actions at Ground Zero

President Trump Makes Unsubstantiated Claims Regarding 9/11 Actions at Ground Zero

President Trump delivered remarks at the Tunnel to Towers Foundation’s Steel Across America event in Washington, D.C., where he recounted an unsubstantiated story about his actions during the September 11, 2001, attacks. He claimed that he was working on a 'big building' when the attacks occurred and sent his entire construction crew to Ground Zero. Furthermore, President Trump stated that the building now known as One Liberty Plaza was 'creaking' and at risk of collapse, and that two firefighters carried him away from the U.S. Steel Building, believing it was in danger. According to the source, there is no evidence to support President Trump's presence at Ground Zero on that day. He was reportedly interviewed from Trump Tower and incorrectly asserted that his building at 40 Wall Street had become the tallest in downtown Manhattan.