Honoring September 11th: Frank

by Chris Burgard

Frank Munoz was a good guy.  When he was a teenager, he worked hard to straighten his life out. He went to school. He got married. He got a job. He took good care of his mom. 

Frank Munoz died on the 73rd floor of The Second Tower on Sept. 11, 2001.

For days after 9/11, his family searched the hospitals because some sick person put his name on a fake Internet survivor list. 

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I didn’t cry for him until two years later when my wife and I stood at the edge of Ground Zero. 

Afterwards, Lisa and I wanted to get a burger. A block away, we walked into a bar called O’Hara’s. On 9/11, O’Hara’s had their windows knocked out and the building was covered in debris. 

We sat with two electricians and Con Smith, the owner until closing time. The guys had worked on the pile every day until it was gone. They still sit together like ‘Nam Vets do 40 years later. 

This September 11th, I will fly on an American Airlines plane. That is my own personal “F**k Y**” to the people who killed our friends. I know it isn’t much. 

I am going to DC because I like the way we came together on 9/12/01. I want to be around other people that feel the same way. 

I wanted to be able to write something really profound, but all I can think of is that I wish my friend Frank was still alive.


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Posted Sep 11th 2009 at 5:03 am in Culture, Featured Story, Military | 46 Comments