Every year, America memorializes the civilians who perished as a result of the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and the first responders who risked and gave their lives to rescue others.
Today marks the 16th anniversary of the attacks.
That day saw hundreds of Americans become heroes, from the passengers of Flight 93 to members of the New York Fire Department to office workers who helped fellow World Trade Center-based employees evacuate.
We here at Blavity honor and salute all of these heroes, and as a tribute, we would like to share the stories of five people who gave their lives that day so that others could live on.
1. Benjamin Clark
Benjamin Clark is a prime example of that old saying, "Not heroes wear capes."
Sometimes they wear chef coats.
On the morning of September 11, Clark woke up early, as he always did. His son woke up early, too.
“Taj woke up and told his dad, ‘Don’t go to work today. I don’t have a good feeling today,’” Clark's mother told The Daily Beast.
Clark went in anyway, and began the prep work for the day's meals at the Fiduciary Trust Company's dining room in the World Trade Center.
Then the planes hit.
The former Marine didn't run. Instead, he made sure everyone in his department, and all of the people in the company's 96th-floor offices evacuated the building. He even assisted a woman in a wheelchair on the 78th floor.
“My son was a Marine, so you know he wasn’t going to leave anybody behind,” says Elsie Clark, his mother as she remembers her son.
A Fiduciary Trust Company official later said that Clark personally saved the lives of hundreds of the company's employees.
The families of all of those employees were overjoyed that Clark didn't listen to his son. However, although he saved many lives, he couldn't save his own.
His name is inscribed in S-39 at Ground Zero where the South Tower stood. And he will never be forgotten.
2. Godwin Ajala
Nigerian lawyer turned security officer at the World Trade Center, Ajala was studying to pass the bar in New York in order to practice law in the United States.
But on September 11, 2001, Ajala made a very different contribution to the people of the United States.
"When he was living here, he was suffering in terms of always working and studying,'' Ajala's friend, Christopher Iwuanyanwa, told The New York Times.
Ajala was always tired. He worked as a guard during the day, and prepared for the bar all night. He hoped to bring his wife and three children to the United States, and to support them by working as a lawyer.
After the planes hit the WTC, Ajala held open doors so that people could exit the building safely, selflessly not worried about saving his own life.
He reportedly collapsed from exhaustion, and fell into a coma where he died days later at the age of 33.
Ajala is celebrated not only here in the United States, but also in his native Nigeria. And he will never be forgotten.
3. First Officer Leroy W. Homer Jr.
Having served his country in the United States Air Force, Homer decided to use his skills to become a pilot for United Airlines after leaving the military.
On September 11, Homer sat in the cockpit of Flight 93 from Newark, New Jersey to San Francisco with Captain Jason M. Dahl.
Four al-Qaeda hijackers tried to take over the plane in order to fly it into the U.S. Capitol. However, crew members and flight passengers worked together to foil their plan.
Homer tried to reach air traffic control, and worked with Dahl to destroy the plane's autopilot system and to re-engineer the plane's speaker system so that any time the hijackers tried to address the plane's passengers, they actually broadcast what they were saying to air traffic control.
Homer was knocked unconscious by the hijackers, and died with everyone else on Flight 93 when it crashed into a field outside of Shanksville, Pennsylvania.
Homer has been honored with many awards and citations such as: the Congress of Racial Equality's Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Award, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference Drum Major for Justice Award and the Westchester County Trailblazer Award.
He is even listed as an honorary member of the Tuskegee Airmen. And he will never be forgotten.
4. Leon W. Smith Jr.
Smith's mother, Irene Smith, said that ever since her son was a child, he knew he wanted to be a firefighter, according to the Huffington Post.
“He knew his calling even then,” she said.
And sure enough, that is what he became.
Things weren't easy for Leon when he first joined the firehouse. The NYFD is almost completely white. In 2011, about three percent of the force was black, The New York Times reports.
“They gave Leon a hard time,” his mother said. “They put oil in his boots, took the truck and ran over his boots. They tried to destroy Leon’s spirit. But he was a strong-willed young man.”
Leon Smith Jr. carried on, and became the driver for Ladder Company 118 in Brooklyn. He and Company 118 were among the first responders at the WTC that day.
Smith valiantly did his job, diving headfirst into the smoke, fire and rubble. He was never seen again, becoming one of the 343 New York City firefighters whose bodies were never found.
“In Leon’s company there were eight firefighters that got killed,” Irene Smith said. “They found the remains of six of them. They have never found my son. I have a tombstone on an empty grave. One of these days I’ll have them, and I’ll bury him. I’ll never give up.”
Though in exhibits most black firefighters, including Leon Smith, are rarely shown, Smith's mother has hope that the memory of her son will live on.
“Leon’s memory will always, always be around,” Smith said. “Nobody will ever forget about my son as long as I have breath in my lungs to speak his name.” And he will never be forgotten.
5. Jason Thomas
Many may remember the name, but not the face, as Thomas was portrayed by a white actor in the film World Trade Center. However, the truth was revealed in a USA Today article on the 5th anniversary of 9/11.
On that day, Thomas, an ex-Marine, helped pull two Port Authority police officers out of a pile of rubble.
When the planes hit, Thomas had only one thought:
"Someone needed help. It didn't matter who," he said. "I didn't even have a plan. But I have all this training as a Marine, and all I could think was, 'My city is in need.'"
He had his uniform in his car. He changed into it, and sped to downtown Manhattan.
After rescuing the officials, Thomas disappeared without a trace. It was a fortunate surprise when Thomas resurfaced years later having survived the catastrophe.
For that, we salute Sgt. Thomas, one of many heroes who will never be forgotten!
