Aon & Marsh Remember
By Mark E. Ruquet
NU Online News Service, Sept. 12, 9:55 a.m. EST?Sept. 11 was marked by solemn remembrance for those lost in the terror attack a year ago. Insurance brokers Marsh and Aon paid quiet tribute to 500 colleagues lost in the World Trade Center.
New York City?based Marsh and McLennan Companies Chairman Jeffrey W. Greenberg said in a statement that appears on the firm's Web site, "One year ago today was the worst day in our company's history."
He continued that, "We are open for business on this dreadful anniversary, but as you know it is certainly not business as usual."
For employees who elected to work, MMC had counselors available. Television sets were put in place for anyone who wanted to view local and national commemorations.
Mr. Greenberg said a granite, bronze and glass memorial, engraved with the signature of each of the 295 lost, will be erected in the plaza next to the firm's headquarters in New York. He said construction will begin next year.
"The memorial will be a tribute to the way they lived and enriched our lives," Mr. Greenberg said.
Aon's offices in New York were closed, but in the firm's headquarters in Chicago, more than 200 colleagues came together in a commemorative service arranged by employees to remember the 175 Aon employees who died in the attack, said firm spokesman Al Orendorff. There were also readings from Aon Book of Remembrance, which is a tribute on the firm's Web site to each of those lost.
In a statement to all of the firm's employees worldwide, Patrick G. Ryan, Aon's chairman and chief executive officer, said it was still "difficult to comprehend the events of Sept. 11″ that took so many. However, he added, "let us remember together, today, that the humanity we share is far more powerful than the forces that attempt to tear us apart."
He urged everyone within Aon to continue to offer support to one another and especially to remember the families.
"They are our family," Mr. Ryan said, "and families look out for their own."
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