On the long commute to a client’s office in northern New Jersey, the traffic was humming, leaving me the freedom to organize my thoughts. As I often did before a meeting, I anticipated objections and visualized successful outcomes. A decade into my career, I had a system that worked and business was booming.

Life was booming, too. My thoughts kept drifting from work to Jennifer, my wife. We’d been married 18 days, and were beginning this new and exciting life together. As corny as it may sound, I was living the American dream. I had worked like crazy to get to this point, and when a news alert broke on that sunny September morning in 2001, I couldn’t quite comprehend what I was hearing.

Fifty-one lives

In 1945, the American dream became a reality for millions. In the wake of victory in World War II, American GIs returned home to marry, start careers, buy homes, and kick off the baby boom generation. For American companies, business boomed as well. Cantor Fitzgerald was one of those companies that capitalized on a surging economy and America’s place as the world’s dominant superpower. An investment bank and brokerage business, Cantor Fitzgerald would become known for its innovation in computer-based bond brokerage and as the market’s premier dealer of government securities.