On September 11, 2001, my brother Harvey Joseph Gardner III left his house before dawn for the long commute from the Jersey Shore to his office on the 83rd floor of the North Tower. Just before 9 a.m., my brother Mark reached him by phone, and despite the chaos unfolding in his office, Harvey could be heard comforting and directing his colleagues. Harvey was calm, brave, reassuring, and thoughtful of others in his final hours despite the horror that he faced. On his last day, he was all the things we knew him to be in life and so much more.

Harvey was only 35 years old when he was killed that September morning. Nearly two decades have passed since that day that changed our family, our country, and the world forever, but his memory and his example remain a potent source of inspiration for my family and others who learn his story.

In life, Harvey was wise and confident, yet humble enough to see himself as a work in progress, always striving to be the best version of himself. Throughout his short life, he always found the time to pursue his life goals while engaging in an ever-expanding list of hobbies and interests—whether it was practicing martial arts, biking at the Jersey Shore, or learning about American history.

So my family wasn’t surprised in the late 1990s when Harvey announced that he was leaving a successful sales career to enroll in an IT training school. He briefly debated between enrolling in culinary school, but then ultimately decided that his interest in computers and technology edged out his passion for cooking. True to form, he thrived in the program, built computers from scratch, and learned all he could to gain the skills needed to break into the IT field.

A bright green floppy disk that belonged to Harvey is now among a selection of artifacts currently on view in the 9/11 Memorial Museum’s In Memoriam exhibition. It’s a particularly meaningful artifact for our family because it bears his handwritten note, “RESUME: Harvey J. Gardner III.” All these years later, it’s still comforting to see his handwriting—it brings him closer to us in a sense. The diverse and accomplished resume he used to earn his position at General Telecom is saved on that floppy disk, now a relic of our collective technological past (so an artifact in its own right). The disk also conveys the painful irony that it was Harvey’s career choice that led to the job that brought him to the North Tower that fateful day.

The floppy disk and other artifacts on display speak to victims’ hobbies, writings, or drawings, providing an intimate glimpse into the lives of the people we honor every day at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum. Visitors to In Memoriam can learn more about each of the 2,983 people killed on 9/11 and in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center by exploring the interactive tables in the gallery.

My family is so grateful that the 9/11 Memorial Museum now serves as the repository for these precious memories and is sharing Harvey’s story with the world. I would encourage anyone interested in donating materials in memory of a loved one—objects, photographs, or audio remembrances—to contact collections@911memorial.org.

I have seen firsthand how these seemingly ordinary objects, like a floppy disk, provide a tangible connection to our collective past and to the everyday heroes like Harvey whose stories have the power to inspire us to be the best versions of ourselves.

By Anthony Gardner, Brother of Harvey Joseph Gardner III

Norma Steuerle, a native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, lived most of her adult life in Alexandria, Virginia, with her husband, Eugene, and their two daughters. Steuerle was a clinical psychologist with her own practice and spent much of her free time volunteering at community service events through her church. One church program, a discussion and reflection group, was the beginning of several deep and lasting friendships. Steuerle and her husband met with other couples regularly for 22 years to talk about books, articles, and films. Steuerle was an enthusiastic host known for sharing thoughtful and honest reflections on the month’s topic. Meditations on Silence by Sister Wendy Beckett was one of Steuerle’s book selections and was donated to the Museum by her family.

On September 11, 2001, Steuerle boarded Flight 77 from Washington Dulles International Airport in Washington, D.C., to Los Angeles on the first leg of a trip to Japan, where she was meeting her husband and daughter for vacation.

The selection of artifacts currently on view in the memorial exhibition all speak to the hobbies, writings, or drawings of 19 of the victims of the September 11, 2001 and February 26, 1993 terror attacks. These artifacts will remain on view in the gallery for one year. Visitors to In Memoriam can learn more about each of the 2,983 people killed on 9/11 and in the 1993 bombing of the World Trade Center by exploring the interactive tables in the gallery.

Anyone interested in donating materials in memory of a loved one—objects, photographs or audio remembrances—is encouraged to contact collections@911memorial.org.

By 9/11 Memorial Staff

Among the items on display at the 9/11 Memorial Museum’s In Memoriam exhibition is a piece of needlework belonging to Charles Alan Zion. It's a testament to his wide-ranging interests and passion for life.

“He once shared with me his thinking: ‘Happiness is a byproduct of success,’” his younger sister, Barbara Zion-Green, remembered. “Chuck was happy, successful, full of life, and as always, Chuck lived life big.” Charles loved to play golf, drink Wild Turkey bourbon, and grill steaks while wearing his favorite apron and signature bandana.

Born in Rochester in 1947 to Rabbi Martin and Jane Zion, Charles and his family eventually moved to Great Neck, Long Island, then to Davenport, Iowa. They settled down in New York City when Charles was about 12 years old so Martin could be the chief rabbi at Temple Israel of the City of New York.

“Chuck, at 16 years old, was experienced in driving cars, playing endless rounds of golf, and spending time with his friends,” his sister said. “The idea of living in Manhattan was not so attractive. Chuck took this challenge as he did all others, with strength, humor, determination, and a chance to explore, learn, and find where the fun was to be had.”

Charles went on to become an equities trader and a senior vice president at the global financial services firm Cantor Fitzgerald. Charles had many hobbies that helped him relax after a demanding day on the job; among them were golfing, cooking, and knitting.

A knitted square and one partially complete knitted square that Charles was working on before his death are on display at the 9/11 Memorial Museum. The needle he was using is still attached to the needlework.

Charles was working at his job on the 103rd floor of the North Tower that day. He was 54 years old.

By 9/11 Memorial Staff

The selection of artifacts currently on view in the memorial exhibition all speak to the hobbies, writings, or drawings of 19 of the victims of the Sept. 11, 2001 and Feb. 26, 1993 terror attacks. The Museum displays these objects in order to preserve the memory of the lives of those who owned them.

One such object is Jon Richard Grabowski’s planner. While a student at the University of Maryland, Jon worked at a café called Bagel Place. Jon used his planner to take note of his shifts at the café. Here, he befriended a coworker, Erika Lutzner, who would later become his wife. Both initially shy, they became close after Jon helped Erika understand a philosophical concept she was struggling with in a class. After discovering their mutual curiosity about philosophy, their bond was further cemented when they discovered the shared a favorite book, The Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera, which explores the meaning of the fragility and finality of human life. Jon documented in his planner meditations such as these and wrote about other passions he had including music, photography, and academia.

Not only does this planner humanize a life lost during the 9/11 attacks, but through the preservation of Jon’s philosophical reflections, personal life, and hobbies, it demonstrates the sanctity and fragility of human life and what it means to live a life only once.

Jon was Vice President at Marsh & McLennan Companies and worked on the 93th to 100th floors of the North Tower. Erika donated his planner to the Museum.  

Anyone interested in donating materials in memory of a loved one—objects, photographs or audio remembrances—is encouraged to contact collections@911memorial.org.

By Michael Galati, Communications Department, 9/11 Memorial & Museum

In 1614 early Dutch settlers of Manhattan landed on the shoreline of the Hudson River near what is today Greenwich Street, just east of the 9/11 Memorial & Museum. Over the past 400 years, Manhattan’s footprint has expanded outward, having been filled during various periods of development with demolition debris, marine construction, abandoned ships, and city waste.

As construction of the World Trade Center was commencing in the 1960s at a 16-acre area of landfill known as Radio Row, the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey had to determine a way to build the two largest skyscrapers in the world on a site that was once submerged within the Hudson River. The solution to this challenge was to employ an innovative Italian construction technique—never before used at this scale in the United States—known as the slurry wall method. This involved building an underground perimeter wall that would stop the entry of river water into the site and permit excavation down to bedrock, where the Twin Towers’ foundations would be built.

The slurry wall method was patented in Italy in the late 1940s by the ICOS Company. It was then introduced during construction of Milan’s subway system in the 1950s. The technique was brought to the United States in the 1960s and used on small projects before being employed at a larger scale for the construction of the World Trade Center in 1967.

Though a state-of-the-art engineering technique, slurry wall construction is surprisingly simple. First a trench is dug using a mechanical clamshell excavator. As digging progresses, bentonite slurry—a liquid clay dense enough to keep out groundwater and hold the walls of the excavation from collapsing—is injected into the trench. At the World Trade Center site, construction crews dug 70 feet below the surface to reach bedrock, at which point a rock chisel was used to cut a keyway into the rock. The digging is done in panel-length sections, each measuring 3 feet wide, 22 feet long, and 70 feet deep. Once the excavation is complete, a steel cage is lowered into the slurry-filled slot in the ground and concrete is pumped through a pipe to the bottom of the trench. The concrete fills the trench and displaces the slurry, which is recycled for use on the next panel. Construction is done panel by panel until an enclosed perimeter wall is cast into the earth. Approximately 158 panels enclosed 11 of the 16 acres of the World Trade Center site.

Once the concrete cures, excavation can begin in the area within the slurry wall. As soil is removed, the lateral support for the wall is also removed. When the site is excavated 10 to 15 feet below the surface, tie-back anchors are installed to keep the wall from collapsing inward. To install the tie-backs, six-inch-diameter casings are drilled diagonally through openings cast in the wall, and then through the earth and into bedrock on the outside of the wall. Steel tendons are inserted into the casings and then socketed and grouted into the bedrock. The tie-backs are then tensioned, tested for strength, and locked into place to hold the wall. At the World Trade Center, this process was repeated level by level until the interior of this perimeter wall was cleared down to bedrock and the spoils trucked across West Street to form part of what is now Battery Park City. The completion of this process revealed what came to be known as the “bathtub,” a deep basement bounded by a water-tight perimeter wall measuring 3,500 feet in length.

The scale of the World Trade Center slurry wall was unprecedented and remains one of the most challenging foundation construction projects in New York to this day. Its success however helped prove a concept and the slurry wall method is still used on foundation projects throughout the world.

By 9/11 Memorial Staff

The 9/11 Memorial & Museum is recognizing the contributions and sacrifices of our nation’s service members during the annual Salute to Service week. We remember the members of the military, both retired and those on active duty, who responded by the thousands in the wake of the 9/11 attacks. Among them was Vietnam War Army veteran and New York State National Guardsman Kevin Mroczkowski.

Mroczkowski was living near Newburgh, New York, when the Twin Towers were hit on the morning of September 11. Within 12 hours, he and more than 8,000 other National Guard soldiers would be at Ground Zero taking up many vital roles.

Mroczkowski was first deployed to the National Guard’s armory on Staten Island, where he and others bunked for two weeks while taking ferries to lower Manhattan to provide military protection at Ground Zero.

During this time, he was initially tasked with preventing the public from entering the “frozen zone,” where it was feared numerous buildings could collapse at any moment. He then helped safeguard the Williamsburg Bridge as part of troop details sent to protect vital infrastructure in the city like bridges, tunnels, and train stations. A year after the attacks, Mroczkowski was doing Guard duty at Penn Station.

He was awarded with a Defense of Liberty Medal by New York Governor George Pataki on September 8, 2002. He ultimately donated this medal to the 9/11 Memorial Museum, along with other belongings that include a U.S. flag given to him by the National Guard and black leather combat boots he wore at Ground Zero.

He said he cared for and polished the boots every day despite regularly trudging through four inches of pulverized ash at the World Trade Center site. He said he did this because he was on a military assignment requiring each soldier to pass a morning company formation inspection.

Mroczkowski died at the age of 69 on July 3, 2019, after a battle with cancer. He is buried at Arlington National Cemetery.

By 9/11 Memorial Staff