Morton “Morty” Frank ‘92
Rhonda Smith was standing in a New York City schoolyard one September morning after dropping off her children for the first day of a new school year. Her friend gazed upward, pointing out a plane that was flying unusually low, but the two thought nothing of it.
Rhonda began her usual jog around the reservoir in Manhattan, where she ran into a friend who told her a plane struck one of the Twin Towers. As Rhonda continued her run, she saw crowds of people, standing with their necks craned toward the smoke-filled sky.
At that point, Rhonda did not realize the enormity of the event, but her mind drifted to her brother, Morton “Morty” Frank, a Class of 1992 Syracuse University alumnus who worked in the city.
Rhonda ran back to the school, where she used the phone, but attempts to reach her brother were unsuccessful. She then dialed her mother, who was screaming as she watched the events unfold on TV.
It was at that moment that a second hijacked plane hit the south tower of the World Trade Center.
New Yorkers like Rhonda and her mother watched the 9/11 attacks happen right in front of their faces, she said. And 15 years after the loss of her brother, that day is still clear in Rhonda’s mind.
“You forget so much in your life, but some things you just remember every minute of the day and that truly is one of them,” she said. “He had the spark … he was always the fun one.”
Rhonda said she doesn’t fear the day will be forgotten, but hopes those who don’t have to remember it, don’t.
“It was a horrible, horrible time,” she recalled. “And in the months afterwards, the smell in the city, it smelled like smoke for months and, you know, people running to the streets looking for … their family members, I think people still remember.”
Smith was involved with a golf outing held in Frank’s name for about 13 years. The tournament raised scholarship money for students who went to the high school Frank had attended.
Still living in New York City, Smith said the anticipation was palpable in the weeks approaching Sept. 11.
“The feeling in the city … you feel it in the air, people just recognize it in the city, nobody forgets.”
Craig Montano ‘84
Caren Mercer had arrived early for class registration. The year was 1980, and she was a freshman at Syracuse University.
Craig Montano had arrived late. He approached Caren and her roommate and asked to join them in line, and they let him.
Although Caren didn’t know it then, she had just met her husband.
Caren and Craig signed up for many of the same classes. After a first date at a football game in Manley Field House, the two officially became a couple.
Throughout college, they would have a whirlwind of dates and adventures. They would go to the Jabberwocky, or “The Jab,” a well-known bar in the basement of Schine Student Center. They attended basketball games in the Carrier Dome. Their senior year, they even skipped part of graduation because his ultimate Frisbee team was in the final, and ended up winning the game.
“I think I always knew there was something special to him,” Caren said. “He had that way, he had a way — whatever was going on, it was better when he was around.”
Caren said Craig loved teamwork, from playing ultimate Frisbee at SU to working on Wall Street. But it was at Cantor Fitzgerald, where he worked as a bond trader, that he lost his life on the 104th floor in the north tower of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.
Caren had been at home in Glen Ridge, New Jersey with their then-9-month-old son, Liam. Their other kids, Christa and Lukas, were 7 and 4 years old, respectively.
“It feels like it happened so long ago, and on the other hand it feels like it’s just yesterday,” Caren said. “It’s been 15 years now, so much has happened that sadly my husband wasn’t here for.”
Their entire family went to One World Trade Center in New York City last weekend, where Lukas read Craig’s name. The memorial was over four hours long, she said, but was an appropriate tribute complemented by the beautiful, clear weather that day.
On Sept. 11, Caren said it’s important for their family to all be together. It’s a day that means family, she said, and a reminder to treasure loved ones and make the most of every day.
“I guess the most important thing is that, you know, no matter what the love never stops.”
David Laychak G’92
Like many Americans, Jim Laychak first heard about 9/11 through the TV. That morning, he and his wife were at home, watching the “TODAY” show on NBC. They heard about the first plane crashing into the north tower of the World Trade Center.
“The first plane seemed kind of weird, but when they showed video footage of the second plane, we knew that something was wrong,” Jim said.
About a half hour later, they felt their windows rattle and shake.
“I told my wife I bet, I wonder if that was the Pentagon that was hit,” he said.
Jim — who lived a few miles away from the Pentagon — was correct.
One by one, all of Jim’s family members that worked at the Pentagon were reached — his father; his brother, Mike; and his uncle. But David, Jim’s younger brother who graduated from the Martin J. Whitman School of Management in 1992, never called.
“I kept thinking he would walk up because, you know, he didn’t have a cell phone … He carpooled into work, so his car wasn’t there. And everybody was just kind of leaving the area,” Jim said. “The longer it went on, it got worse. It wasn’t until the second or third day that we knew nobody was coming out of the building.”
Fifteen years later, Jim said he is often still thinking about David, a civilian budget analyst for the Army, and the memories they shared. But he said when he thinks about how much time has passed, he thinks more of what he has done with the Pentagon Memorial Fund.
Shortly after 9/11, 10 victims’ family members formed a steering committee to act as advisers for a memorial project, which included a juried design competition.
By March 2003, a separate selection committee chose a final design and the Pentagon took over to manage the construction aspects. Soon after, the original steering committee decided to create the Pentagon Memorial Fund.
The fund raised over $23 million dollars to build the memorial, Jim said. Now, they are raising money to build an accompanying visitor education center, for which they raised about $4 million so far. Jim, who is president of the fund, said the Pentagon Memorial is one of the few memorials honoring an event where it actually happened.
“We have a unique place and a unique responsibility,” he said. “The more kids that are born every year, the more people that weren’t alive on 9/11.”
Each of the victims in the memorial are arranged by their age, Jim said, something that often resonates with visitors. For example, middle schoolers often gravitate around the stainless steel benches of the three sixth grade victims.
The victims are also arranged by the location of where they died — when you read David’s name at the end of his bench, Jim said, you see the Pentagon.
“We wanted a place to make people think, but not tell them what to think,” Jim said.
Jim said his work with the fund is his way to honor David and the other victims of Sept. 11. He said David is now in a better place, and because of him he is always thinking about how he can live a more fulfilling life.
“We know that’s what Dave would want,” Jim said. “He would not want us to be sad and dwell, (but) go live our life the best we can.”
