One of 2,996

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I volunteered to create a tribute to one of the victims of Sept. 11, 2001, because it needs to be done, 2,996 blogs remembering each victim of that horrible day. I was assigned the priveledge of creating a tribute to Frank J. Koestner, who was 48 when he was slaughtered by terrorists. A lot of my quality living has occurred since the age 48, so I can weep for this man I never knew, but care for.

In researching for this tribute, I felt some of the rage of Sept. 11, 2001 return. That is why I spent so much time digging up information on a man who died in a mass murder of civilians by zealots of islam.

There is not much informantion about Frank on the web. His name of course shows up in all of the 6992 (est) lists of the victims who died when America was sucker punched. It's one thing to blog a list of victims, and a completly different thing to try to find infomation about one on that list. In researching for this blog article, I came to a point that I felt close to Frank, yes a friend after the fact. I wish I could have rode that subway from Queens to Manhatten with Frank in the early hours of Sept. 11, 2001. Rushing to work, working long hours, rushing home and getting up the next day to do it all over again. Frank's workday was brutal; leaving for work at 6 am, and finishing work at 7 pm. Add the time for the ride back home, we are talking about 15 hours.

Frank J. Koestner was a good man, doing a good job. Frank J. Koestner was a very private man, a workaholic, and loved his job and family. Frank had worked for eight years at Cantor Fitzgerald in the world trade center, (north tower) and put in long work days. Almost one in 4 people, who died in the World Trade Center that day in 2001, were employed at Cantor Fitzgerald.

Cantor Fitzgerald started the workdays for it's employee's much earlier than most companies who did business from the WTC. One of the reasons for this was that the elevator passage to the 104th floor took 5 minutes before 9am, but around 9am it could take up to 10 minutes longer. So it made sense for the businesses in the top stories to start earlier in the workday.

Frank J. Koestner worked for a great, compassionate and efficient company. This company was crippled by the terrorist attack, and it is a miracle that the business has recovered so rapidly. Even in the devastation and then the rebuilding of the company, the management of Cantor Fitzgerald showed grace under fire. The company within days of the murders, pledged that 25% of all future profits would go to the surviving family members of its murdered employees. Frank worked for a top notch company.

The day after the mass murder, people were still holding out hope for his survival. Remember the chaos, and the pure unadulterated grief of those looking for loved ones who were in those two towers? I do, remember the pictures we saw of light poles on streets near the market district covered with appeals for help? Help me find..Frank J. Koestner..some of them said. Here is a snippet of a web forum that people in NYC and NJ used in an attempt to locate missing loved ones.

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A year and a half after the murder of her father,
Carolyn Koestner now six, almost seven, left this simple message on a tribute board.
"I love you Dad"

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A year later, when Carolyn was 8 years old, she posted
this entry in a online guestbook
This time it was obvious, the hurt was greater.
Some hurt, grows larger as we grow up.

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I spent many hours online searching for photos of Frank and his daughter Carolyn, and this is the only one I came up with. This picture of Father and Daughter is from the 9-11 victims quilt that is being shown all across the USofA.
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Here is one of the best bios I found of Frank J. Koestner

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Yes, the above picture could have been a snapshot of the WTC the morning of Sept.11, 2001. We all know how the days right after Sept. 11, 2001 enfolded, and the grief of being shown weeping and wailing relatives. There were also web forums where people shared information. Here is a forum clip from a few days after.

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As a truck driver, this information I dug up is more than enough reason, to say my time was not wasted in research, design and publishing this tribute to one of the 2,996 innocent victims of that horrific day.
I say to you Frank J. Koestner, through research I learned a lot about you, and I need to share some of the truth about you to the world.

Frank as a friend, may you R.I.P. OH, the reaseon..........? There is a street in Queens New York that was renamed Frank J. Koestner St., and Frank, you have some mighty fine initials in you name....FJK....close enough...

FRANK J. KOESTNER
YOU ARE NOT FORGOTTEN

I will never forget what the WTC looked like in 1990. The last time I was in NYC, my brother-in-law and sister insisted that my wife, daughter and me, take a ride in their car to lower Manhattan and look at the twin towers from the streets of Manhattan. Thanks, Sis and Phil. That is still a memory I can quickly pull out of my minds hard drive, and enjoy again. And now all that remains of some of the world’s greatest buildings….is just that: memories. All of the brilliant planning, all of the magnificent feats of engineering and construction were destroyed one morning in the fall of 2001. But, more than the loss of those gigantic landmarks, I MOURN THE LOSS OF 2,996 INNOCENT CIVILIANS ON THAT DAY. 2,996 civilians from over 50 nations were slaughtered that morning in cold blood by youngsters from the so called peaceful religion of islam.

Why even hitler on his best day never killed as many civilians in such little time.

Congratulations perverts of islam.

You now have the world record for murdering the most civilians in one hour of hatred. I’m sure other islamafacists will try to break that record.

Think couch potato, you may be next.

Yes, the above picture of the twin towers was made up of photos of those that were slaughtered that day, we want to forget, but we can't. That is because 2,996 human beings were vaporized, crushed, burned until dead, had heart attacks, fell down stairways, suffocated in elevators, died trying to help someone else; and let's not forget to mention what we won't mention......the hundreds who jumped from windows knowing they were going to splatter the sidewalks with their bones and blood, but at the time that seemed better than being fried alive.This tribute will remain at the top of my blog page for a couple of weeks.