Remembering 9/11: Mark Shore’s Survival Story from the World Trade Center
On the morning of September 10, 2001, Mark Shore, a Morgan Stanley employee from Hoboken, New Jersey, began a typical day at work in his corner office on the 62nd floor of the South Tower of the World Trade Center. Accompanied by a friend visiting from Chicago, Shore gave a tour of his remarkable office with panoramic views of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Little did they know, this would be their last day in the iconic twin towers.
The following day, September 11, dawned clear and tranquil, masking the horrors that would soon unfold. Shore arrived at work early, but by 8:46 a.m., as he stepped away from his desk to visit the restroom, American Airlines Flight 11 collided with the North Tower. Shore remained unaware of the chaos until he noticed his colleagues rushing toward the stairwells. His manager, visibly shaken, urged them to evacuate. Despite authoritative announcements declaring the South Tower secure, Shore felt an instinctive need to escape, deciding, “I’d rather get out.”
Just moments later, United Airlines Flight 175 struck the South Tower at 9:03 a.m., leading to overwhelming destruction. Shore, focused on his escape, navigated the crowded stairwell alongside his colleagues, ignoring the warnings to return to their desks. Upon reaching the ground level, they encountered firefighters rushing towards the building as police diverted pedestrians away from the site. For one brief moment, Shore looked up and was greeted with a horrifying sight: smoke billowing from both towers. “Are we at war?” he thought, realizing they were now trapped in a war zone.
As Shore and his group fled north away from the towers, they witnessed people transfixed by the horrors unfolding around them, reminiscent of a disaster film. A child pointed out that one tower was missing, marking the moment they realized the South Tower had collapsed just moments before. Although Shore did not personally know any of the victims, he later learned that ten of his Morgan Stanley colleagues perished that day.
The aftermath was surreal. Shore and his colleague eventually reached the west side of Manhattan near 34th Street, where they waited for a ferry back to New Jersey. Stripped of his keys, wallet, and phone, which remained buried in the rubble, he sought refuge at a friend’s home that night. It was only then he began to process the traumatic events.
In the weeks that followed, the tragedy forced Shore and countless others to reassess their lives and priorities. He felt a surge of patriotism and reflected on his career, at one point entertaining the thought of joining the CIA as an economist. Shore’s life journey led him back to Chicago by the end of 2009, where he eventually became a professor at DePaul University and later joined the Chicago Mercantile Exchange (CME Group).
As the years pass, Shore continues to share his experiences, emphasizing the importance of disaster preparedness and honoring first responders who valiantly fulfilled their duties amidst chaos. His compelling stories resonate deeply with his students, providing valuable lessons in resilience and the impact of 9/11. Today, as he participates in memorial ceremonies, Shore remains a testament to the enduring human spirit in the face of unimaginable loss.
