CUNA CFO Hopes No One Forgets Pain of 9/11

MADISON, Wis. – On the second anniversary of September 11, many across the country remember loved ones they lost. For CUNA Chief Financial Officer Mary Meixelsperger it is particularly painful as she thinks of her younger brother John Patrick Hart, husband and father of four, who would’ve been celebrating his 40th birthday this year. John, who lived in California was in New York on a business trip and was doing a presentation for an investment firm in the South Tower. Meixelsperger says she drove from Wisconsin to N.Y. after hearing about the terrorist attack to fill out a missing persons report on her brother and was in New York for a week. “I don’t wish that experience on anyone,” said Meixelsperger. “Time moves on and hopefully people won’t forget, don’t forget my little brother who was murdered because he was an American – he and 3,000 others.” Although it is not working with victims’ families, a local Wisconsin-based group called World Trade Center 9/11 Memorials is doing its part to ensure Americans never forget by working to install sculptures in every state capitol to honor victims of the terrorist attacks. With eight tons of debris from the World Trade Center, sculptures will be 30-foot towers made of stainless steel with a pentagon-shaped base featuring the victims’ names from that state.