As the Gilbert American Legion Post 927 began its Sept. 11 service, several people in the group could be heard echoing similar sentiments, “Sept. 11, 2001, was a beautiful fall day, just like today.”

“Service members face and continue to face an imaginable danger in the world’s harshest conditions. Twenty years later, on Sept. 11, we are hoping to honor all the heroes who have given so much to keep us safe. The first responders, fire departments and the United States Armed Forces,” said Commander Danny Insalata.

In remembering, he asked everyone listening to remember our brothers and sisters in arms that have worked so hard to keep terrorism at bay.

“I pray these fallen heroes will feel our pride in their bravery and commitment to protect and defend and I wish to honor them by laying a wreath today,” Insalata said.

The service concluded with remembrances and a bell toll for all the lives lost that day, followed by a gun volley and taps.

I wasn’t supposed to be there

Henry Miller, known to most as Hank, a member of the Legion, worked at J.P. Morgan Chase and witnessed the 9/11 attacks.

“I was supposed to be off that day because my birthday is Sept. 12, but we got a new boss and my boss insisted I had to be there because I was the controller, so I had to go in,” he said.

He was standing by his boss and looking out the window that looks over the stock exchange.

“Suddenly I see all these pieces of paper coming down. I turned to my boss and said, “What’s going on? Did some new company get into the stock exchange?’?”

Then his boss turns around looks and tells him all the falling papers are on fire and just then another employee rushed in and announced a small plane hit the Trade Center.

“So, we were thinking, you know, one of those small planes and we ran into one of the other offices where we were looking directly at the Trade Center and we could see the flames around the whole ring of the tower. We didn’t know what to do and then a second plane went in as we were looking out the window, and that is when people started dropping out of the windows. Some jumping hand in hand and some just standing on the ledge alone and jumping.” Miller said.

When the second building fell, Miller described the scene as just like when Mount St. Helens erupted and all the black smoke came billowing down the mountain.

“Only this smoke was coming right at our building. We thought about digging under the rug under the desks, but we knew it would not work. We thought we were dead,” he said.

Getting out

All the people in his office building, went out of the building arm and arm and all he remembers is the choking smoke, darkness and thousands of pieces burning paper dropping down on them. He randomly picked one up, but never looked at it until later.

When he got home several days later, he showed it to his wife, Mary, and it was from Cantor Fitzgerald and from the desk of a dear friend of his wife. The friend did not make it out.

Miller has a scrapbook he has gathered from photographers and other sources, and he considers it all that is left of his life at the New York Stock Exchange.

“The day I finally got out of New York and went home, I decided to leave. I put in my papers and I never went back.”

His wife has visited the Sept. 11 memorial, but her husband said he doesn’t have any desire to go back and relive it through the museum.

He still mourns for lost friends and knows just how fortunate he was to be alive and suffers no medical issues.

Miller and his sons are all Marines and his youngest joined up the year he graduated from Pleasant Valley.