Remembering Edward Vanacore On 9/11

In its remembrance of Edward Vanacore after the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the New York Times focused on the 29-year-old's love of his "sunset orange Harley-Davidson," a motorcycle that he would ride from his home in New Jersey to visit his girlfriend in Albany.

Mr. Vanacore, a 1990 graduate of North Haven High School and the youngest of six, worked as a stock analyst for Fiduciary Trust International on the 94th floor of 2 World Trade Center 11 years ago. On that date in 2001, he was "last seen on the 78th floor of the South Tower of the World Trade Center before the building collapsed," the New Haven Register reported.

The entries in Mr. Vanacore's online remembrance book shed some light on the type of person he was, and how missed he still is:

Not a day goes by when I don't think of you. I think please dear God what if you stayed out of the building...what if you just didn't go to work that day. A tear will always be shed for you and you will forever be in our hearts. We had so many wonderful family times, who can forget all of those trips as kids, we did everything as one big family. I can't stop thinking that the happiest day of my life...my wedding...was the last time that I got to see you smile. I watch my wedding video and it is bittersweet - seeing you out on the dance floor smiling and having a good time, but then it brings me sorrow because not long after God had choose you to be with him. I don't think there is a time when I didn't see you smile. A smile so bright you would lighten up a room. You and your family are in my prayers every night and I'm going to try to keep your spirit alive by decorating your tree...it was heartbreaking to see the mulch that had faded away, the flag that is faded and withered, I sprinkled it with new mulch...the mums gave it just the right touch for the fall but now that spring is arriving i will have to search until i find something perfect...and i haven't forgotten - i will find another flag one that's brand new to fly beside your memorial so people won't forget. We miss you so much...we will love you forever and someday we will meet again...love cousin Debbie

That was not the end of the tragedy the family would endure, however. In early May 2010, police said 73-year-old Thomas R. Vanacore, shot and killed his wife Joan E. Vanacore, 70, and then killed himself.

Edward's parents did not live to learn that U.S. forces , almost a year to the day after their deaths.