Ed Fine, the man pictured carrying a black leather briefcase moments after the 9/11 attacks, still uses the same briefcase today, 25 years on. The 83-year-old told the Mirror he sees it as a message to those who committed the attacks that they won't win.
Iconic image of defiance
The photograph of Fine, taken minutes after the planes hit the World Trade Center, became a symbol of New York's resilience and defiance. Fine had no idea the picture had been taken until a friend called to tell him it had been used on the front cover of a magazine.
"I contacted Fortune magazine and they invited me into their offices," recalled Fine, who lives in Berkeley Heights, New Jersey. "They showed me the hundreds of photos they had to choose from for their front page. It was chosen because it summed up the resilience of New Yorkers that day."
Escape from the North Tower
Fine had been on the 79th floor of the North Tower when it was struck by a fuel-laden Boeing 767. He had originally set up an appointment for his son with a firm in the World Trade Center, but his son called on September 10 to say he was sick and asked if Fine could go instead.
"There were any number of ways I could have died," he said. "I took the elevator to the 79th, which was the floor where you transferred. I ran to catch the next elevator to the 87th, but I missed it by seconds. If I'd been on that elevator we wouldn't have been having this conversation today."
Keeping memories alive
Fine kept the briefcase and the suit he wore that day. "They've both been cleaned but I felt it was very important that I kept them," he said. "We moved from a house into an apartment but there was no way we were getting rid of them. They remind me of a day when I was very lucky. I returned home from 9/11 - many people didn't. I never forget that."
His wife Ingrid, 84, recalled the worry she felt before hearing from him. "I didn't hear from Ed for a couple of hours. I didn't know if he was dead or alive," she said. "Eventually he called me from his cellphone when he was on a bus. I was so relieved. It turned out his phone was the only one working on the bus. He then lent his phone to others on the bus so they could call back to their homes."
The couple, who have two children Stuart, 60, and Heidi, 57, always remember how lucky they are as the 25th anniversary approaches.
