Martin Stewart Niederer

Martin Stewart Niederer

2,996 is a tribute to the victims of 9/11

The idea? Each of 2996 bloggers write a blog honoring one of the 2996 people killed on September 11th, 2001.
I eagerly signed up.
As time went by, I gathered information and created an outline. I made plans and notes, just in case of computer failure or Myspace errors.
And I wrote. And then rewrote.
This is not uncommon for me. But this was much more difficult.
The problem? How to capture and relay to you, in words, this feeling I felt as I read the information I had gathered.
You see, I (like many other people I’m sure) have become desensitized to human loss.
Sure I was shocked, saddened, and angered by the attack.
But 2996 dead, was just a number. I knew none of these people.
But now I do.

Marty got to work early that morning, as he usually did. He sent an email to a friend at 7:45. That was the last contact anyone ever had with Marty. I’m sure he talked to his co-workers. But they’re gone too. All 685 of them. The company Marty worked for, occupied the 101st through 105th floors of the north tower of the World Trade Center. American Airlines flight 11 hit somewhere between floors 93 and 99. There was no escape for the people trapped above.

Martin Stewart Niederer grew up in New Jersey. His family moved to Wisconsin for a couple of years while he was in middle school, and then moved back to New Jersey. He played basketball in middle school and made all conference in high school.

He continued to play basketball at the University of Vermont where he majored in political science. A field trip to Wall Street would spark an interest in the world of finance. Marty changed his major and left the basketball team. That field trip that altered the course of his life, ultimately would also seal his fate.

He graduated from the University of Vermont in 1999 with a degree in business administration, and landed a job with Canter Fitzgerald LLP as a securities trader.

So now I knew something about Marty, but it hadn’t hit home yet. It was in the details below that I started to feel as if I somehow knew Marty.

Marty was 23, but had a birthday coming up in 15 days.
When he listed some of his favorite things for his college basketball guide, he listed The Simpsons, The Beastie Boys, and baby back ribs.
Marty’s girlfriend’s name was Tara. They were together for 3 years. Her family liked Marty. They said he made her happy.
Marty’s dad likes martinis. So Marty scouted the perfect martini bar to take his dad to when he visited.
Marty had a small apartment in Hoboken that he shared with his college buddy. His friend sat in the apartment after the attack, waiting to see if Marty would somehow come home.
When his parents visited his apartment after the attacks, they found his bed made and pillows fluffed.

And then there were the messages left on a guest book website.

Dear Martin

-We've just gone through our first holiday season since you were taken from us. We ate the turkey, decorated the tree, and exchanged the gifts, but there was no real enthusiasm in our celebrating. It struck me that that was, perhaps, your greatest attribute - your enthusiasm! Whatever you did, you gave it your all and enjoyed it. When you greeted someone, you looked them right in the eye and gave them your full attention. It was never half-hearted. No wonder everyone loved you. If something stopped being fun, you found something better to do with your time and energy. You loved life and lived it to the fullest. We could all do well to follow your example.

Love always, Aunt Laurie

A son, a brother, a lover, a future son-in-law, a teammate, a nephew,

a roommate, a friend, gone but not forgotten.

From now on, I won’t remember September 11th as the day we were attacked.
I will remember it as the day we lost Marty Niederer.

Read about the other victims and heros of September 11th, 2001

http://www.dcroe.com/2996/