Army veteran honors brother killed on 9/11 with Mets game tribute
West Point graduate Joe Quinn will attend the New York Mets’ Sept. 12 game to honor his brother Jimmy, who died in the North Tower in 2001
Joe Quinn, a West Point graduate and U.S. Army veteran, will attend the New York Mets’ Sept. 12 game as a tribute to his brother Jimmy Quinn, who died at age 23 in the North Tower during the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks.
Jimmy Quinn, remembered by his family as a devoted Mets fan and a young finance professional, was working in the North Tower when the attacks occurred. His brother said the family’s decision to mark the 24th anniversary at a Mets game reflects Jimmy’s love of the team and the life he was building in New York.
Joe Quinn said his brother “crammed more life in his short 23 years than most people do in a lifetime.” Jimmy graduated from Manhattan College in the Bronx a year before the attacks and had recently passed his Series 7 exam. His brother recalled Jimmy’s pride in telling others that he “worked on top of the world,” a phrase the family said captured his optimism about the future.
At the time of the attacks, Joe Quinn was a senior at the United States Military Academy at West Point. He said the mood on campus was immediately different that morning, with cadets whispering and a roommate alerting the Corps that the Twin Towers were on fire. He described the sight of the planes’ impact as “tiny holes compared to the size of the towers.”
When the towers collapsed, Quinn said the family’s hope for finding Jimmy was slowly replaced by dread. His father, a retired New York Police Department officer, turned the family dining room into an impromptu command center in the days after the attacks. To this day, the family has not recovered his remains.
Quinn graduated from West Point in 2002 and deployed to Iraq in 2003. He said West Point and his family had offered to relieve him of active duty in light of his loss, but he chose to continue serving. He compared his decision to the thousands of others who raised their right hands following the attacks, saying the nation lost many young service members in the subsequent wars.
In civilian life, Joe Quinn is a managing director at Drexel Hamilton, a veteran-owned investment bank that emphasizes hiring veterans. He said his work and his involvement with the 9/11 Memorial and Museum’s Visionary Network Leadership Council are ways to honor his brother and to continue the family’s healing. He noted that visiting the museum and paying respects at the memorial where Jimmy’s name is listed remain important parts of the family’s remembrance.
The Sept. 11, 2001 attacks killed nearly 3,000 people and continue to shape the lives of survivors and the families of those who died. For many, anniversaries have become occasions for private remembrances and public ceremonies; for the Quinn family, the Mets game will serve as a personal celebration of Jimmy’s life and the things he loved.
Quinn said attending the baseball game is a fitting tribute to a brother who was both an ardent Mets fan and an energetic young professional. He described the act of honoring Jimmy at the ballpark as both a commemoration and a way to keep his brother’s memory present in the rhythms of everyday life.
The Quinn family’s tribute is among many individual and family observances taking place around the country as communities mark the 24th anniversary of the attacks, which remain a defining event in recent American history.