NOTE: I am reposting this tribute from 9/11/2006 and re-opening the comments. You can also read this years remembrance of Norbert P. Szurkowski. Other tributes can be found at the 2,996 Project.

Today, on the 5th anniversary of the tragedy of September 11th, 2001, 2,996 bloggers are remembering the victims who died that day. Instead of focusing on the perpetrators we are remembering the individuals who lost their lives that day. The list of those being remembered with links to the blogs writing about them can be found here. Please take time to read as many of these tributes as you can.

This post will remain on top all day with any new posts below.

Neil Dollard

Writing this post has been very difficult. Oh, the information is there, but there is the sense that you can hardly do justice honoring someone you never met. Still, learning from the words that others have written, I do hope that I can give you some idea about who Neil Dollard was.

Reading through dozens of memorial sites, news sources and other online tributes written in the past five years several items stand out.

First the facts. Neil Dollard was 28 years old on September 11th, 2001. He was a bond broker for Cantor Fitzgerald, working in WTC 1, and lived in Hoboken, NJ. But those are just facts.

One thing that struck me immediately was the importance that family and friends had in Neil Dollard’s life. His frequent phone calls to those he cared about is something mentioned in nearly every tribute. Calls to his parents, his other family, his girlfriend Kristen, his co-workers, and his friends were every day occurrences. Often for no reason other than to just say hello.

It is also said that he loved to give gifts and seldom went anywhere empty handed.

He loved good food, loved to cook, loved to eat at great restaurants. And he spent time in the gym.

He took pride in the nice suits that are the uniform of an up and coming bond broker, but his trademark was his baseball cap.

He loved Kristin and Kristin loved him. Here is what she had to say two years following his death:

I lost Neil on that horrible day, he was my boyfriend. We lived together and planned to one day get married. He was my best friend and no one can ever replace him. He was genuine and generous. His heart was bigger than life itself. I miss him SO MUCH! Everyday I sit and think what our children would have looked like and what their names would have been and would I ever learn to cook as good as he did. I have to go on with my life but it’s difficult, when the one thing that you lived for is gone. I’m very angry that he was taken away from me for no reason, I never said goodbye!! They say that when you die, your soul and energy are still around, I hope that he can feel how strong my love for him is. I know he is around when I get upset, because as soon as I think about him I stop crying, as if he is rubbing my back and telling me to calm down. I love you Neil!!!!!! I’ll never forget you and the great life that we had together. Kristin

One of the most complete looks at Mr. Dollard’s life is this one:

Staten Island Advance (9/25/2001)
Jill Gardiner Advance staff writer

Neil Dollard was preparing to make a sautéed spinach dish and a homemade tomato sauce the night before the World Trade Center attack.

“He called my aunt and told her to save the tomatoes,” said Megan Fajardo, Neil’s sister. “He was planning on picking them up on Saturday.”

[...]

A bond broker for Cantor Fitzgerald, the firm that occupied some of the highest floors in the building and lost hundreds of its employees, Mr. Dollard was working on the 104th floor of Tower 1 when the first plane hit.

His girl friend, Kristin Ledzion, spoke to him briefly when she called to wake him up before work that morning and he had talked to his family, most of whom were vacationing in Italy, the night before.

He and Ms. Ledzion were scheduled to join them at their home on the Italian Riviera the following week.

“He called on Monday night,” said Mrs. Fajardo. “He was in a good mood. Everyone spoke to him. We were talking about the trip and about how excited he was to come.”

At 28, Mr. Dollard was full of life.

He had a passion for dining in fine Manhattan restaurants and entertaining friends at his home. He was a gourmet cook who liked to try new recipes, and was beginning an impressive wine collection.

To balance his love for food, the 6-foot-1-inch Mr. Dollard spent much of his leisure time exercising at a gym near his home. His build was broad and he always looked healthy.

[...]

Though he hadn’t told anyone, he seemed to be preparing to surprise his girl friend with a kitten. His family found cat food and a book on raising cats in his home.

“He was a very loving son who was very involved in the lives of his family,” said his mother. “He was a fun-loving young man who also had a serious side.” Mr. Dollard survived the 1993 Trade Center bombing, when he walked down all 104 flights, helping a woman who was wearing a cast on her leg.

[...]

Though his family didn’t speak to him after he arrived at work that fateful Tuesday morning, one of his co-workers called home and said he was in the stairwell evacuating the building with Mr. Dollard. There was no other information on his whereabouts.

[...]

In addition to his sister, Megan, and his mother, Helen, Mr. Dollard is survived by his father, Robert; a brother, Peter; two more sisters, Susan Dollard and Anne Zucchi; a half-brother, Michael Dollard, and two half-sisters, Diana and Mary Dollard.

Neil Dollard was taken from his family, friends and co-workers much to soon. He is missed and deserves to be remembered by us all.

2996 Project Posts from my blogroll:
Sister Toldjah — Peter Edward Mardikian
Blue Star Chronicles — Lt. Michael Warchola
Captain’s Quarters — Ysidro Hidalgo-Tejada
Babalu Blog — George C. Merino
Pirate’s Cove — Brooke Alexandra Jackman
Blue Crab Boulevard — Cynthia Giugliano
Right Truth — Lee Adler
The Strata-Sphere — Paul Laszczynski
Michelle Malkin — Giovanna Porras

Note 9/11/2011 – The comments have been reopened.

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Coffee, acording to the women of Denmark, is to the body what the Word of the Lord is to the soul. ~ Isak Dinesen

The Right Truth (Debbie Hamilton) The sentence for terrorists – death! — “This weekend we honor those who were killed by Islamic terrorists on September 11, 2001. The debate seems to be ‘are we safer?’. Well, apparently so since we have not been attacked since 9/11; since major changes have been made in our intelligence and homeland security; and since average Americans have decided to profile for themselves.”

Blue Crab Boulevard The Wages Of Hysterics — “If anything, the insane frenzy from the Democrats over the made for television “docudrama” The Path to 9/11 has reached a pitch I cannot remember ever having seen in American politics before.

And it makes them look like utter and complete fools. Especially since they appear to be unable to comprehend how bad they look right now.”

Confederate Yankee How Quickly They Forget — “A Senate report on prewar intelligence in Iraq says that there is no evidence Saddam Hussein had a relationship with Abu Musab al-Zarqawi and al Qaeda. Predictably, Democrats are saying that this undercuts the President’s justification for going to war.

They are deadly wrong.”

Wizbang (Lorie Byrd) A Few Thoughts On The Path to 9/11 — “I have just a few thoughts on the controversy surrounding the ABC mini-series, The Path to 9/11. Unfortunately I have not seen the movie. Since many of those most prominently calling for its cancellation or drastic editing have yet to see it either, I feel pretty comfortable throwing in my two cents.”

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Making coffee has become the great compromise of the decade. It’s the only thing “real” men do that doesn’t seem to threaten their masculinity. ~ Erma Bombeck

I had originally planned to discuss The Path to 9/11 later today. However, as I’ve been looking around my blogroll this morning for the usual First Cup post it seems as if there is but one topic being discussed. So, here are some of the interesting posts I’ve found on the film and surrounding controversy.

Blue Crab Boulevard Reuters Picks Up Story — “This will not play well with the middle. It may make party faithful happy or unhappy depending on political bent. But it will not make the middle happy. They do not like to see government pressuring speech. They really don’t like being told what they can and can’t watch.”

Confederate Yankee The Reality-Based Community’s War On Freedom — “The Path to 9/11, a mini-series based in part upon individual interviews and the 9/11 Commission Report, is being fought tooth-and-nail by grassroots liberal activists and top Democratic Party politicians in an effort to stifle free speech. The Democratic Party has gone so far as to threaten to attempt to challenge ABC’s broadcasting license in a clear challenge to this nation’s First Amendment. If ABC allows the Democratic Party to set a precedent of censorship through intimidation, then all Americans will have lost a part of their freedom.”

Captain’s Quarters (Ed Morrissey) Snatching Defeat From The Jaws Of Victory — “The Democrats do not do subtlety, or do not do it successfully. They plan on using the power of the federal government to demand political changes to a program before it airs, a dangerous precedent and a completely different problem than what existed before. Presumably, this would become yet another fruit of their takeover of the House should they succeed in the midterms. It makes an excellent argument for extended Republican control.”

The Anchoress Dems again overplay hand and prove projection — “This is very, very troubling. This is what is called “overplaying your hand,” and the Democrats do it all the time. Not content with letter writing, registering complaints and the edits ABC has already agreed to, not content with Clinton’s own work to protest a made-for-tv docudrama…they threaten to pull a broadcast license if the show is not canned. Incredible.”

Right Wing News (John Hawkins) Bill Clinton’s Path To 9/11 — “Having the Clinton Administration complain that they look bad in this mini-series is like a football team that lost a game 56-0 griping that the highlight reel on the news that night made them look bad.”

I was listening to Glenn Beck this morning and heard him make a comment that gave me an idea for a phrase to describe those on the left who sputter and spout when things don’t go their way: Leftourettes™ Syndrome. The current campaign against this film could be a case study.

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