188th Wing hosts 9/11 survivor as resiliency guest speaker.

FORT SMITH, ARKANSAS, UNITED STATES

09.12.2020

Courtesy Story

188th Wing

EBBING AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, Ark – Dale Brunk’s first day of work at Morgan Stanley’s World Trade Center office was Monday, Sept. 10, 2001. His second day, was almost his last.

Brunk, advisor and partner at Landmark Financial in Fort Smith, Ark., recounted his escape from the 61st floor of the south tower, to 188th Wing members. He credits his resiliency and his faith for providing him with necessary tools to survive that infamous day and each day after.

“We each looked after each other that day, every step and every floor down,” recalled Brunk. “Complete strangers, packed shoulder-to-shoulder, two deep, when the second plane hit the tower. We could have panicked, but we relied on constant communication and on each other to make it to the ground floor.”

Although he made it out of the building, he didn’t fully understand what just happened “I made the 50-block walk to my hotel room, turned on the TV, and realized both towers were hit, this was four to five hours after the attack. The depth of the situation hit me all at once and I was extremely grateful to be alive.”

Due to his experience in the World Trade Center attacks, the past 19 years gave him three unforgettable moments.

The first moment was at Van Buren elementary school, when a young lady raised her hand and asked, “what do you think of our military?” He quickly replied, “I think they are great and thank them for their service!” Later that day, her teacher explained, the young lady’s father was deployed and the student was overjoyed to have Brunk’s support.

The second moment was speaking with 188th Wing members during the A-10 to Intelligence conversion. “Speaking with the military members who protect us and sacrifice so much was an honor and humbling experience.”

The third moment was taking his young son, Trey, to the 9/11 memorial for the first time. “To see my son roll his hands over all the names of those who were lost was very moving to me. I realized surviving the attacks gave me the opportunity to be his dad.”

Brunk sees his survival from the domestic attack as a second chance at life.

“I had two choices: to live my life to the fullest and treat every day as a gift or live in fear” said Brunk. “I knew living in fear meant I let the terrorists win. I refused to live in fear and let them win.”

• Date Taken: 09.12.2020
• Date Posted: 09.29.2020 07:38
• Story ID: 379017
• Location: FORT SMITH, ARKANSAS, US