I will never forget

How did I spend the morning of Sept. 11, 2024? Doing the same thing I’ve done the previous 22 9/11s, as I’m sure many other friends, relatives and colleagues have done to remember those we lost on that fateful date 23 years ago.

I turn on the TV to hear the beginning of the annual calling of names of the nearly 3,000 who perished in the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history. About an hour into the calling of the names, I hear one name that just triggers the feelings of sadness and anger that I’m sure millions of other Americans still ask themselves to this day – Why?

That name is Shawn Bowman. Shawn was a guy I met during my junior year at the State University at Albany (then the State University of New York at Albany, or just SUNY Albany) more than 30 years ago. What started out as a friendship between a resident and a resident assistant (RA) – of which I was the resident – in the dorms developed into a real brotherhood in more ways than one.

Shawn and I were among a group of around a dozen students who formed a chapter of the co-ed service fraternity Alpha Phi Omega on the Albany campus. It was truly a brotherhood among us as we took on various service projects as volunteers over several months before we finally got ourselves chartered as an official chapter at SUNY Albany.

Among the things I remember about Shawn was his sarcastic sense of humor, always with that quick wit, and he always said what was on his mind, without any concern about how people would react.

Shawn lived in Staten Island, one of the five boroughs of New York City. He was an Eagle Scout, which he was very proud of, and he enjoyed cooking, reading mystery novels and practically every political article he could find in the local newspapers.

After graduating with both a bachelor’s and master’s degree from SUNY Albany, Shawn became a human resources information specialist with Morgan Stanley Dean Witter before landing the same position with Cantor Fitzgerald, located on the 104^th floor of Tower 1 in the World Trade Center. I remember reading how he got up early each morning to shower and dress his infant son, Liam, before heading to work in the city.

This is where it gets tough to continue writing this blog. You see, on 9/11/01, on a beautiful, sunny morning like it was here in NYC on 9/11/24, Shawn never came home from work. Like the others who were trapped when the two planes struck the Twin Towers on that tragic, fateful morning, Shawn lost his life at the tender age of 28, just five days before he turned 29.  

Not only did Shawn leave behind his wife, Jennifer, and his 16-month-old son, but he also left behind an unborn son, Jack, named after a character in one of the many Tom Clancy novels he enjoyed reading.

I was home on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, when my mom called from the school where she taught and told me to turn the TV on immediately because a plane had struck one of the Twin Towers. Shortly thereafter, I watched in horror as a second plane crashed into the other tower before both skyscrapers eventually collapsed.

I remember my dad walking all the way home from work from Manhattan to Queens as all NYC mass transit was shut down in the aftermath of the attacks. The shock of what had occurred stayed with me for several days, knowing that so many lives had been lost due to a heinous act of terror. I also simply could not believe that the Twin Towers, which I had seen across the East River from my office in Jersey City, N.J. for almost six years, were just not there anymore.

A couple of weeks later, I was shocked to learn from another of my fraternity brothers that Shawn was among those who was trapped in one of the towers when the planes struck and did not make it out alive.

I couldn’t help but think of his wife, son, and a second son on the way when I heard the news. And today, 23 years later, I again think of Jennifer, Liam and Jack as a dear brother, husband and father was taken from us way too soon.

And so, just before 10:00 this morning, I heard his name, and a tear was shed, for Shawn Edward Bowman Jr.