StevenWarRan: Marcy Borders

The three Bank of America victims were Liam Colhoun, Susan Clancy Conlon and Robert "Bobby" Hughes.

In his New York Times "sketch" Bobby Hughes was described as a 23 year old who had attended Montclair State University, "but was so eager to begin working on Wall Street that he started at the Bank of America in the World Trade Center five months before graduation."

His father said Bobby had "started dreaming of a job on Wall Street when he was a freshman" in high school. "He loved the whole lifestyle," said his father, Robert Hughes Sr. "He loved the excitement of that business world, the money, the way they dress, everything. That's all he ever wanted to do."

Many young people just beginning careers would be equally as enthusiastic as Bobby Hughes was at such a prospect. What isn't explained is why the Bank of America would be as enthusiastic for Bobby in return. How many other young people land corporate career-track jobs in the financial service sector in Manhattan before they at least have their degree in hand, and typically take a summer off for a renewal before they begin the hard slog of adulthood.

"The son of an electrician from Sayreville, N.J.," [t]he night before Sept. 11, Bobby had been out until 4 a.m. with his friends, but he still got up in the morning and took the train to the city." But what was Bobby celebrating out on his Monday night all-nighter? Being a margin clerk with a hang-over and a whole week ahead to stare at? It's not many working-class kids with third-rate college degrees who can land a job in banking in the city and can afford a brand-new Lexus as his first toy. Maybe I'm envious instead of incredulous, but how many people have 1,500 attendees at their funeral, (another article puts the attendance at 2,000,) unless the event has been planted with ringers to make the point?

But then, with these infamous words: "As fate would have it...the Bank of America had relocated to the twin towers from 57th Street and the Avenue of the Americas just months prior to the terrorist attacks." That must mean the lease the bank took out on August 1, 2000 for space on the 81st floor allowed the in-house decorators and corporate space planners only nine months to whip the place in shape.

"He loved that job," Robert Hughes Sr. said. The son was working on 57th Street in Manhattan until about four months ago, when the company moved to the World Trade Center," although, didn't the Times tell us

"that he started at the Bank of America in the World Trade Center five months before graduation."

If Bobby Hughes is the antithesis of a vicsim, my having learned the names of three of his friends, three sisters, three grand parents, an aunt, an uncle, his car dealer and the funeral home operator "who takes care of business," than Liam Colhoun is the quintessential real deal. He doesn't even have a Legacy.com Tribute page! There's only a flickering CNN candle to focus our devotionals on, but impressively, he is in the United States Social Security Death Index.

I could just let the title of this Staten Island Advance article speak for itself: Susan Clancy Conlon, 41, a supervisor at WTC for 3 months. I am so tired of newlyweds and new hires, that if I see a twin I think I'll split. But there are fascinating details in this story:

Mrs. Conlon was at her desk on the 81st floor when the first plane hit on Sept. 11. The 41-year-old supervisor in the Bank of America's fail-safe control division immediately called her mother, Vera Clancy, who was at work at the PS 36 annex in Annadale.

"She said a plane had hit the building and there was a lot of debris," Mrs. Clancy said. "She said her boss could see the plane and the elevators were not running. She was told to call us to let us know she was safe. Then she said she had to leave because they were calling her to evacuate."

snip

At around 4:30 p.m. on Sept. 12, Mrs. Conlon's godmother listened to the piercing screams of a female voice on her answering machine. She was certain it was her goddaughter and the family clung to that one last glimmer of hope. But the hope soon dimmed.

Mrs. Conlon's brother, Neil Clancy, a city police sergeant, helped in investigating the call and determined it was one of several random prank calls made in the hours following the attack. The calls are still being investigated by the police, Clancy said.

By "random," does it mean the caller didn't realize she'd be mistaken for someone who was just then roasting, baking or frying to death, or about to fling themselves---slash---get crushed, into a mass of disassociated atomic mess? And by "prank," does anyone really think this is funny?

In trying to determine the mechanism by which these three young, or relatively young, and healthy individuals lost their lives in a descent from the 81st floor is a near impossible undertaking, given the narrative shuts up around the issue of errant fatality, so really, all we are left with are the discrepancies left in the wake of an evolving tale. I might imagine that when sensibly premeditated details are proffered like trial balloons, only to be greeted with a blank stares or a pained grimace, the storytellers are quick to get the idea.

The family of young Bobby Hughes gave several interviews to New Jersey newspapers where they touch on the circumstance of his failing to make it out of the building safely. The family had been in contact with a number of Bobby's former colleagues, whose "stories" of that morning shed some light on what would appear to be a gratuitous disappearance.

In apparently the earliest interview the family gave, which coincided with plans for an upcoming October 9, memorial service. His father is blunt, saying

"Only three from his office didn't get out. Bobby and another guy were helping an old woman. They were the only three," said Mr. Hughes' father, Robert Hughes Sr.

This unequivocal view places the three bank employees, Liam Colhoun, Susan Conlon and Robert Hughes. in a mutually dependent destruction, although, at 41, and a "supervisor in the Bank of America's fail-safe control division," who lists as a hobby "participating in fund-raising walks" it's hard to put the onus on her. In fact, the stories the co-workers tell are a little hard to believe:

People who worked with the younger Mr. Hughes at the Bank of America office called the family in the days following the attack, saying they saw their son as he was reaching the bottom floor of the tower.

Co-workers asked Mr. Hughes if he needed help, but he said "I'm all right," the father recalled. "Then they said they saw all this debris coming down, and that was the last he was seen," Robert Sr. said.

What sort of help did Bobby appear to need? Was he physically assisting Conlon in making her exit? We assume that Colhoun is still a part of the trio. The three seem to have made it down to the first floor simultaneously with the plural co-workers. Where were all the firemen and Port Authority cops whose job it was to assist civilians? The quoted remark that debris then started to fall, which obscured their sight, separating witnesses out from the witless is patently absurd, as exits were made under the plaza, towards the exit by Sam Goody's on Church Street. A number of references describe uniformed officers stationed every 30 feet or so along the long passageway.

The reason such accounts are hushed up is because they don't hold together.

I recently rediscovered some notes I took while reading a document whose origin or link, I've now lost. It's titled: WTC ORIGINAL MEMO Compilation of civilian information so far; Ma, WTC Civilians memo prepared on March 28, 2004, and it appears to me to be a draft version of a 9/11 Commission report. Reading it I was struck with how open and fulsome it was presented, a tone which has since been eradicated for one more shallow and obtuse.

All civilians on upper floors died. Most civilians below the impact survived; those who did not were trapped in either elevators or rooms, physically incapable of descending, or advised to remain in place.

That has been basically my understanding too, like the ten Port Authority employees who were told to remain at station on the 64th floor, irrational as that may be. But I'm starting to gather a number of individuals, like these three, whose stories have slipped between the cracks, probably by a concerted effort to suppress narratives which don't fit into the larger picture.

So, anyway, in trying to find a link to the original material, I put blocks of text in quotation marks into Google, which is a technique that often works, but what I got back was so strange it seemed deranged, or at least probable evidence of suppression. The record as it is collecting is being sanitized, so it seems odd

to see an official document discuss, for instance, the situation by which James Gartenberg of Julien J. Studley died. Which leads me to believe he really did die that day, contrary to the theories of total confabulists, that everything is lies and videotape and no sex.

By the time of a June, 2002 interview things have been moving backward:

...what happened after they hung up is not completely known. Apparently, Bobby and a co-worker stopped to help a woman find her purse. From stories told to the Hughes family by other Bank of America employees, Bobby and the co-worker helped the woman because of her distressed state.

Several Bank of America employees have told Louise [Hughes] that as the company was evacuating the burning north tower, Bobby and a co-worker stopped to assist a woman who had become disoriented

But if people were making it down from the 91st floor above them, surely that gave them a ten-minute leeway to deal with her distress and also stick with the program of evacuation. Besides, other company employees have said they were together down on the first floor.

The next viewpoint expressed in a timeline was that of Kenneth D. Lewis, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, of Bank of America, during remarks he made at press conference announcing a gift of three fire trucks to the New York City Fire Department, on July 18, 2002. He has already pissed me off during this announcement, by squandering the chance to produce effective narrative, in failing to name the three fire pumpers after the three victims coincidentally being honored---like the Nina, the Pinta, and the Santa Maria. Quotes Lewis:

The last associates to see Liam and Bobby reported that they were in a stairwell helping an elderly woman down the stairs, and Susan was last seen guiding associates to an exit.

Today, Bank of America has almost 3,000 associates working in New York, more than 400 of whom worked in the World Trade Center.

Here somebody has recognized that Susan Conlon cannot serve in the role previously supplied her, but not only has she not been given much in the way of a new role, we now must consider the fact that they have encountered separate and equal obstacles to a safe exit. And since everybody working for Bank of America on the 81st floor has only been there a few months, where does she suddenly get her expertise as a guide for associates? She seems like a simple Staten Island girl, one who follows direction when ordered to call her mother and tell her she's safe when she isn't yet. Again, where is the uniformed services in this scenario?!

By the time of a September 12, 2002, Sentinel article , A year later: World Trade Center victims, by Sue M. Morgan, no progress is evident beyond the silencing of the father's loose cannon, leaving the mother only to emote honestly, and that would be progress for the perpetrators.

Several Bank of America employees have told Louise that as the company was evacuating the burning north tower, Bobby and a co-worker stopped to assist a woman who had become disoriented. Despite the risk, Bobby would not have left anyone behind, his mother said.

"He was such a good kid," Louise said.

When all else fails a mother, try heroism; the men are happy in their cupidity.

And the really sinister element here follows:

Funeral director Carmen Spezzi of Sayreville’s Parlin section, who arranged Bobby’s funeral, has remained in continuous contact with the family, Louise said.

Beware those who handle the dead! Like Wallace Miller a few poor counties away, they have been co-opted into the service of the cabal!

October 3, 2001, The Star-Ledger, Robert Hughes, 23, Put Others' Lives First, Profile by Tom Haydon,

March 24, 2002, New York Times, Robert T. "Bobby" Hughes, A Bob For All Seasons,

June 20, 2002, Suburban [Middlesex and Monmouth Counties] Family recalls 23-year-old brother, son as a hero, by Jennifer Dome,

Winter, 2002, Montclair State U., Alumni Life, In Memorium, Robert (Bobby) Hughes '01,

9/02

Louise said.
Several Bank of America employees have told Louise that as the company was evacuating the burning north tower, Bobby and a co-worker stopped to assist a woman who had become disoriented.

10/3

he stayed to help a woman having trouble on the stairs.

"Only three from his office didn't get out. Bobby and another guy were helping an old woman. They were the only three," said Mr. Hughes' father, Robert Hughes Sr.

Just after the plane hit the North Tower, Mr. Hughes' mother called him at his office. "He said, 'Ma, I got to go. We got to evacuate,'" the father recalled.

People who worked with the younger Mr. Hughes at the Bank of America office called the family in the days following the attack, saying they saw their son as he was reaching the bottom floor of the tower.

Co-workers asked Mr. Hughes if he needed help, but he said "I'm all right," the father recalled. "Then they said they saw all this debris coming down, and that was the last he was seen," Robert Sr. said.

On Dec. 24, Christmas Eve, his body was finally recovered. The police waited until the day after Christmas to tell the Hughes family. Rescue workers found Bobby and his co-worker’s bodies next to each other, the family said.

July 18, 2002
Kenneth D. Lewis, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Bank of America,

Remarks at press conference announcing gift of fire trucks to N.Y.C. Fire Department
The last associates to see Liam and Bobby reported that they were in a stairwell helping an elderly woman down the stairs, and Susan was last seen guiding associates to an exit.

October 9, 2001, PRNewswire, Bank of America to Give Three New Fire Trucks To New York City Fire Department. Charlotte

On September 11, Bank of America had more than 400 associates in the World Trade Center North Tower. The three associates who lost their lives were working on the 81st floor.

Trucks are Donated in Memory of Three Bank of America Associates Lost on Sept. 11,

July 22, 2002
Bank of America Corp. had more than 400 employees in the north tower of the World Trade Center when it was attacked on Sept. 11. Last week, the company paid tribute to the three 81st-floor employees who perished helping their co-workers escape.

B of A donation salutes its 9/11 victims.

. When he bought a new car, his family called him Lexus Bob.

nickname was Bank of America Bob, his parents said, because he lived for his job as a margins clerk. As the son of an electrician from Sayreville, N.J., Mr. Hughes started dreaming of a job on Wall Street when he was a freshman at Sayreville War Memorial High School. "He loved the whole lifestyle," said his father, Robert Hughes Sr. "He loved the excitement of that business world, the money, the way they dress, everything. That's all he ever wanted to do."

Mr. Hughes attended Montclair State University but was so eager to begin working on Wall Street that he started at the Bank of America in the World Trade Center five months before graduation. For those months he took his remaining two classes at night while living with an aunt, Kathy Hughes, in Lyndhurst, N.J.

New York Times, ROBERT T. "BOBBY" HUGHES,

where Mr. Hughes worked on the 83rd floor, he stayed to help a woman having trouble on the stairs.

"Only three from his office didn't get out. Bobby and another guy were helping an old woman. They were the only three," said Mr. Hughes' father, Robert Hughes Sr.

Just after the plane hit the North Tower, Mr. Hughes' mother called him at his office. "He said, 'Ma, I got to go. We got to evacuate,'" the father recalled.

People who worked with the younger Mr. Hughes at the Bank of America office called the family in the days following the attack, saying they saw their son as he was reaching the bottom floor of the tower.

Co-workers asked Mr. Hughes if he needed help, but he said "I'm all right," the father recalled. "Then they said they saw all this debris coming down, and that was the last he was seen," Robert Sr. said.

Mr. Hughes wanted to be a broker,like his uncle, Patrick Ambrosia,and applied for a job at the Bank of America before completing his business degree at Montclair State University.

Mr. Hughes was hired by Bank of America as a margin clerk in August 2000, and left the office early two days each week to attend classes, until he graduated in December, his father recalled.

Star-Ledger, Robert Hughes, 23, Put Others' Lives First,

His position as a margins clerk for the Bank of America on the 81st floor was his first step toward becoming a stockbroker, Bobby’s father explained at the family’s home on Wick Drive last week.

As fate would have it, the Bank of America had relocated to the twin towers from 57th Street and the Avenue of the Americas just months prior to the terrorist attacks.

The night before Sept. 11, Bobby had been out until 4 a.m. with his friends, but he still got up in the morning and took the train to the city.

Louise immediately called her son, but could not get through because Bobby was calling her at the same time. When they finally spoke, Louise told him, "Thank God you’re OK." Bobby told her the building was being evacuated and he had to go, but that he’d call again later. The call never came, and what happened after they hung up is not completely known. Apparently, Bobby and a co-worker stopped to help a woman find her purse. From stories told to the Hughes family by other Bank of America employees, Bobby and the co-worker helped the woman because of her distressed state.

According to the Hughes family, there were 124 employees with the Bank of America in the World Trade Center, and only three of them were killed.

Bobby’s bright smile, red hair and friendly personality made a lasting impression on many people. In fact,more than 1,500 people attended his memorial service on Oct. 6.

At that time, Bobby’s body had not yet been recovered. While the family had held on to the idea that he would be found alive, at some point the knowledge that he was gone set in. On Dec. 24, Christmas Eve, his body was finally recovered. The police waited until the day after Christmas to tell the Hughes family. Rescue workers found Bobby and his co-worker’s bodies next to each other, the family said.

His closest friends, brothers Pavle and Cookie Pervan, and Rick Jaremba, were like brothers to Bobby, Louise said.

Pavle started a trend among family and friends when he got a tattoo that included the words, "In Loving Memory of Bobby." Bobby’s sister, Leigha, was the next in line, and she convinced her father to get one as well. Bobby’s father’s tattoo also reads, "My Favorite Son," which was a joke within the family since Bobby was his only son.

He was always spending money because he wanted to enjoy life, his parents said. One thing that he had always wanted was a Lexus, and last summer, he went out and got one. When it was returned to the family after Sept. 11, they had to let it go. No one wanted to drive it.

After Bobby’s death, Ray Catena, who owns the dealership where Bobby leased the car, took the Lexus back with no argument, Robert Hughes said, noting how grateful the family is to the dealership and how they still speak to the people who work there. Similarly, the funeral home that made arrangements for Bobby’s burial was equally kind. The owner, Carmen Spezzi, arranged to have Bobby’s body transported to Sayreville and made all the arrangements on the family’s behalf.

Taking shortcuts would have meant not stopping to help the distressed woman. The Hughes family doesn’t know if the woman survived, but they are proud to call Bobby a hero, regardless.

Suburban [Middlesex and Monmouth Counties] Family recalls 23-year-old brother, son as a hero,

http://www.arlingtonva.us/departments/Fire/Documents/after_report.pdf

on page 69 of the Arlington County After-Action Report

"Dr. Marcella Fierro, Chief Medical Examiner for the Commonwealth of Virginia, met with FBI and DoD officials at the JOC on September 12. She informed them that Virginia forensic laboratory and mortuary resources were prepared to go to work in support of the response. The FBI and DoD officials declined the offer, preferring to conduct forensic and mortuary activities at DoD facilities. Dr. Fierro asked for and received a letter from Attorney General Ashcroft relieving the Commonwealth of Virginia of those responsibilities."