US

WTC survivor and Marine reflects on life and America since 9/11

Laura Donovan Contributor
Font Size:

These days, Mark Finelli’s top priority is law school. After serving in the Marine Corps, the 35-year-old, who earned an MBA from the University of Arizona this year, wants to work in energy law.

But ten years ago, Finelli had more on his mind than academic pursuits. On the morning of September 11, 2001, Finelli needed to fulfill his caffeine fix while training for an investment banking position in the World Trade Center south tower. As he waited in line for coffee on the 61st floor, the north building was struck. Upon retrieving his cell phone from the boardroom, he rushed to the stairwell. Once Finelli made it outside, he sprinted to the Hudson River, hopped onto a fire department boat, and decided to enlist in the military, formally entering the Corps in 2003. Though the attacks had a strong impact, he believes he would have joined the service whether or not he’d been in New York City on 9/11.

“I think I would have gone on with a lot more of a clear head,” Finelli told The Daily Caller of “what could have been” had he not been part of the life-changing event. “I think I’d probably still be in the Marine Corps, because after going into Iraq and surviving 9/11 it’s a little jarring to dig through all of that. So I would think if I wasn’t in the building, I would be in the Marine Corps still. I wouldn’t have to have my MBA and doing law school.”

Today an inactive marine focused on energy law, Finelli still says he’d happily slim down so he could get back into the military in the event of another attack.

“I’m actually really [re-entering], after I lose some weight, to be frank,” Finelli said. “But if something really bad happens I’ll beg to get in. Even after 9/11 all the people that had just retired all tried to get back in. You know, the people that retired before 9/11 never really saw war if they missed the Persian Gulf War. And you can imagine, being a writer, if you spend 20 years working for a newspaper and never get to publish anything, and how frustrating that could be…I don’t like having other people fight my wars for me, that’s why I joined the Marine Corps initially after 9/11.”

As to be expected, the 1998 Hampden-Sydney College graduate, who is set to appear on “Fox and Friends” on the Sunday anniversary, had nightmares about 9/11 for many years.

“I don’t [have nightmares] anymore, [but] through my faith, through my friends, I’ve gotten through all of this,” Finelli said.

“Once I got into the Marine Corps and Iraq happened, I had to listen to every single minute in the news, how troops were sitting ducks and an intelligence failure…So that really took a toll on me, the nightmares and waking up shaking, thinking the roof is coming down and the ceiling. And that went on for about a year. …It was actually very therapeutic to go to Iraq, because I got to actually do something of substance, since I’d survived in New York.”

Though 9/11 preceded two wars, Finelli feels the United States has seen a lot of success in the War on Terror.

“The most important thing is that we’ve had success in the war. There hasn’t been a collective attack by the enemy on American soil in almost ten years,” Finelli said before the 9/11 anniversary. “So, that’s what I feel best about.”

Despite last week’s warning about al-Qaida threats to small airplanes in the days following the big anniversary, Finelli himself isn’t concerned about a 9/11 anniversary attack.

“Terror is the admittance of weakness, because you’re saying ‘I can’t fight you conventionally, I can’t fight you with an army, so I have to use terrorism.’ I flew back to Arizona after the 9/11 attacks, and I always joke it’s the only time I’ve flown first class because I was the only one on the flight. But that was the safest time in the history of the United States to fly, after the attack. There’s going to be no safer time to be in New York than this upcoming weekend.  No, I’m not worried.”

Jordan Bloom contributed to this report.

Follow Laura on Twitter

PREMIUM ARTICLE: Subscribe To Keep Reading

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!

Sign Up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
Sign up

By subscribing you agree to our Terms of Use

You're signed up!
BENEFITS READERS PASS PATRIOTS FOUNDERS
Daily and Breaking Newsletters
Daily Caller Shows
Ad Free Experience
Exclusive Articles
Custom Newsletters
Editor Daily Rundown
Behind The Scenes Coverage
Award Winning Documentaries
Patriot War Room
Patriot Live Chat
Exclusive Events
Gold Membership Card
Tucker Mug

What does Founders Club include?

Tucker Mug and Membership Card
Founders

Readers,

Instead of sucking up to the political and corporate powers that dominate America, The Daily Caller is fighting for you — our readers. We humbly ask you to consider joining us in this fight.

Now that millions of readers are rejecting the increasingly biased and even corrupt corporate media and joining us daily, there are powerful forces lined up to stop us: the old guard of the news media hopes to marginalize us; the big corporate ad agencies want to deprive us of revenue and put us out of business; senators threaten to have our reporters arrested for asking simple questions; the big tech platforms want to limit our ability to communicate with you; and the political party establishments feel threatened by our independence.

We don't complain -- we can't stand complainers -- but we do call it how we see it. We have a fight on our hands, and it's intense. We need your help to smash through the big tech, big media and big government blockade.

We're the insurgent outsiders for a reason: our deep-dive investigations hold the powerful to account. Our original videos undermine their narratives on a daily basis. Even our insistence on having fun infuriates them -- because we won’t bend the knee to political correctness.

One reason we stand apart is because we are not afraid to say we love America. We love her with every fiber of our being, and we think she's worth saving from today’s craziness.

Help us save her.

A second reason we stand out is the sheer number of honest responsible reporters we have helped train. We have trained so many solid reporters that they now hold prominent positions at publications across the political spectrum. Hear a rare reasonable voice at a place like CNN? There’s a good chance they were trained at Daily Caller. Same goes for the numerous Daily Caller alumni dominating the news coverage at outlets such as Fox News, Newsmax, Daily Wire and many others.

Simply put, America needs solid reporters fighting to tell the truth or we will never have honest elections or a fair system. We are working tirelessly to make that happen and we are making a difference.

Since 2010, The Daily Caller has grown immensely. We're in the halls of Congress. We're in the Oval Office. And we're in up to 20 million homes every single month. That's 20 million Americans like you who are impossible to ignore.

We can overcome the forces lined up against all of us. This is an important mission but we can’t do it unless you — the everyday Americans forgotten by the establishment — have our back.

Please consider becoming a Daily Caller Patriot today, and help us keep doing work that holds politicians, corporations and other leaders accountable. Help us thumb our noses at political correctness. Help us train a new generation of news reporters who will actually tell the truth. And help us remind Americans everywhere that there are millions of us who remain clear-eyed about our country's greatness.

In return for membership, Daily Caller Patriots will be able to read The Daily Caller without any of the ads that we have long used to support our mission. We know the ads drive you crazy. They drive us crazy too. But we need revenue to keep the fight going. If you join us, we will cut out the ads for you and put every Lincoln-headed cent we earn into amplifying our voice, training even more solid reporters, and giving you the ad-free experience and lightning fast website you deserve.

Patriots will also be eligible for Patriots Only content, newsletters, chats and live events with our reporters and editors. It's simple: welcome us into your lives, and we'll welcome you into ours.

We can save America together.

Become a Daily Caller Patriot today.

Signature

Neil Patel