Robert Martinez
Peru/Ireland

Mr. Martinez still can't bring himself to visit the site where the World Trade Center stood… The memory is still too fresh.
Robert Martinez and his son, Jonathan. (photo ctsy. Martinez family)

Robert Martinez was born in Boston in 1978 to a Peruvian father and an Irish mother. But, on September 11, 2001, he was pure New Yorker, becoming both victim and hero that day. Robert had worked in security at the World Trade Center for two years. His father, Gabriel, says that after the planes hit the Twin Towers, "they told Robert to leave, he said okay, but returned to help more people, and the building collapsed." The friendly, hard-working 23 year old died that day, and was laid to rest on April 15, 2002. He leaves behind his parents, a fiancée, Lisa, and a five-year-old son, Jonathan. 

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