Excerpt of an e-mail I received today from our corporate office in Manhattan:


Dear Colleague,

Today, Pfizer’s New York headquarters reopened for business.

Let me affirm that we are doing everything we can to ensure the safety of all employees… to help colleagues and their families in need… and to assist those affected by the tragic events unfolding this week.

It is my sad duty to report that Joseph DeLuca, a CHC colleague in Morris Plains and a 23-year veteran of our company, perished in the Pennsylvania plane crash.

A Legal Division colleague, whose name we cannot disclose at this time, was in the area of the World Trade Center and remains missing.

We have been informed that several colleagues have loved ones who died or were injured in the attack. Nearly all of us have friends, family members, or trusted business partners who lived and worked in the areas where this disaster took place..........


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Much more to the email but cant share - If there was an act against the terrorists on that plane like it was said in the cell phone call - I firmly believe Joey was right there in that......

I don't know if it was shot down Pete.....but this thread is quickly turning into a thread about whether or not the passengers are really 'heroes' Well in my opinion it doesnt matter which theory is true - the heroism of the passenger is not in question. I can't even describe my emotions. I havent cried over any of it just yet and feel that at any moment I will just start with no end But the neat thing is - now I feel as though the things that stir me so deeply and will bring me close to tears are not the tragic news stories - not as if I don't have compassion - but the things that seem to strike a bigger chord in me are hearing the acts of heroism in a time like this. Not just the passengers of that PA flight that had at one point rallied and decided to gang up on the terrorists and probably led to the "safe" crash of that plane versus a landing in DC. (My colleague most likely being one of the passengers in this effort) But not just those passengers, also the rescue teams, those who have donated time money or blood, and the millions of people that have hung American flags in their yeards, prayed cried and hoped for those involved. True, that this may very well be the most digusting crime on humanity I will ever witness in my lifetime - but it finally hit me yesterday that this isn't just a crime on humanity - it's a catylast. It was an event that stirred something very deep in the people of this country and our empathetic neighbors. I have never, and most likely will never again see such true acts of patriotism and heroism. It moves me so much to watch people respond as they have - people willing to line up for hours just to donate a pint of blood, or donate money to the red cross, or help in any way they can - be it physical or mental support. Today i have more hope in the people of the world than I have ever had. I was lucky to be around this week to witness what I believe must have been the single most beautiful act of humanity in history thus far.

So either theory being true - are the passengers of ANY of the flights true heroes and people who have ultimately sacrificed a life to spur a great needed change in this world? Without a doubt.