I don't know much about Brian Jones, but I do know that he did not expect to walk into his work at IBM Global on the 97th floor of the World Trade Center, September 11th, 2001 to never come out again. I also know that he heroicly taught our nation to appreciate every day that we are here on this earth. Below is an article I found on a website about his final hours.
BRIAN JONES 1957-2001
He was a man with a good sense of humor. A dry sense of humor, said his mother, Pat Jones. The kind that made people laugh and listen for the punchline when he was telling a story. "Whatever he said, it came out funny."
Except on the morning of Sept. 11, when Brian Jones, 44, called his parents' house. With a calmness that defied the hideous situation, he said there was an explosion and asked his father, Lee Jones, if there was anything on television about it. The elder Jones told his son a plane had hit the building. "He said, 'OK. I'm leaving,'" said Pat Jones. "That's the last we heard of him."
Believing that Brian Jones got out, it was only later that others in his office told the family that he was helping others leave the building.
Jones was a systems administrator for Fiduciary Trust and worked as an outsource employee to IBM Global.
After graduating from Roosevelt High School, he attended Hampton University in Virginia for two years and finished his undergraduate work at Pace College in Manhattan.
But it was Brian's time in the Marine Corps, from 1979 to 1984, where he learned computing, that led him to his job on the 97th floor of the North Tower, where he worked the last three years.
On weekends, the Kew Gardens resident would visit his parents' house in Babylon for family time.
"He would come out to get my spaghetti," his mother said. "He was kind of a private person, but giving if you needed him. He always kept in touch."
In addition to his parents, Jones is survived by his sister, Teri Marshall, in Maryland and his brother, Gary Jones, in Houston.
He was a man with a good sense of humor. A dry sense of humor, said his mother, Pat Jones. The kind that made people laugh and listen for the punchline when he was telling a story. "Whatever he said, it came out funny."
Except on the morning of Sept. 11, when Brian Jones, 44, called his parents' house. With a calmness that defied the hideous situation, he said there was an explosion and asked his father, Lee Jones, if there was anything on television about it. The elder Jones told his son a plane had hit the building. "He said, 'OK. I'm leaving,'" said Pat Jones. "That's the last we heard of him."
Believing that Brian Jones got out, it was only later that others in his office told the family that he was helping others leave the building.
Jones was a systems administrator for Fiduciary Trust and worked as an outsource employee to IBM Global.
After graduating from Roosevelt High School, he attended Hampton University in Virginia for two years and finished his undergraduate work at Pace College in Manhattan.
But it was Brian's time in the Marine Corps, from 1979 to 1984, where he learned computing, that led him to his job on the 97th floor of the North Tower, where he worked the last three years.
On weekends, the Kew Gardens resident would visit his parents' house in Babylon for family time.
"He would come out to get my spaghetti," his mother said. "He was kind of a private person, but giving if you needed him. He always kept in touch."
In addition to his parents, Jones is survived by his sister, Teri Marshall, in Maryland and his brother, Gary Jones, in Houston.
Brian probably could have survived if he would have tried to get out right after hearing about the plane hitting. Instead, he chose to help other people save their own lives. Brian is a true hero, and I am proud to honor him on the 5th anniversary of September 11th.
5 comments:
I think it is awesome that you are honoring Brian Jones. I still cannot believe it happened, even after 5 years. I am sure it is going to be a very, very sad day for a lot of families.
I do want to go see that movie-we watched a special on it the other night.
I still remember what I was doing. I wonder if I would have been a hero or if I would have just gotten out.
I think about that all the time, Jenna! I think that I would have just run and run.
Thanks for letting us meet Brian Jones. What a hero! I'm pretty sure I would've been a runner, too, but I'm in awe of the people who stayed to help--or, contrary to every instinct, ran toward the danger.
After reading about the 2996 project on your site, I signed up. I told a friend about it, and she signed up, too. You're responsible for getting at least two more bloggers to participate! Go, you!
That was nice:) Thanks for doing that for Brian.
K.
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