ABSTRACT
KEYNOTE: Go Tell the Spartans At 8:48 on the morning of September 11, 2001, Adam Mayblum, 35, an investment firm employee, was in his office on the 87th floor of the north tower of the World Trade Center in New York. Suddenly, it seemed like a huge bomb exploded on the floors above-the building shook as if in an earthquake, lighting fixtures fell down, the ceiling collapsed in several areas, and paper flew everywhere. The halls quickly filled with smoke, but the phones were still working. Mayblum immediately called home and left a message for his wife that a bomb had gone off and he was on his way out. Next he took off his undershirt, tore it into three pieces, and gave two of the pieces to coworkers. They soaked the fabric in water and tied the torn T-shirt pieces around their faces as improvised air filters. Then the trio started down a smoke-filled staircase.
