Robert Peraza: The Story Behind The Tragic 10-Year Anniversary Photograph
JUSTIN LANE/AFP via Getty ImagesRobert Peraza mourns his son Robert David Peraza at the 9/11 Memorial in New York City. September 11, 2011.
On September 11, 2011, 10 years after the 9/11 attacks, Robert Peraza went to the 9/11 Memorial in New York City. Thinking he was alone, he found his son’s name — Robert David “Rob” Peraza — on the memorial and knelt and prayed. A photographer nearby snapped a photo, immortalizing his grief.
“It was very, very emotional,” Robert Peraza, a Catholic, said of that moment, according to ABC. “I was just honoring Rob. I was saying a prayer for his soul.”
Ten years earlier, 30-year-old Rob had shown up for his job as a trader with Cantor Fitzgerald on the North Tower’s 104th floor. Like so many others, he died when terrorists crashed two hijacked planes into the Twin Towers.
“He was born in 1971 when they first started building the World Trade Center,” Rob’s mother, Suzanne, said after his death, according to the Daily Mail. “Now, 30 years later, in 2001, that’s his coffin.”
Voices Center for ResilienceRobert David Peraza loved to play rugby.
But his family is determined not to let their son die in vain.
In the aftermath of his death, which his family calls “murder,” the Peraza family has raised money to support students attending Rob’s alma maters. ABC reports that they’ve established scholarships for students at Norwich High School in New York, which Rob attended, and raised hundreds of thousands of dollars in scholarship money for his college, St. Bonaventure.
In the end, the story of Rob Peraza and the other 9/11 victims listed here represent just a handful of the people who lived and died in the attacks. The 2,977 innocent people who perished, and the thousands of people who managed to survive, had stories, lives, and loved ones of their own.
After reading the tragic stories of these 9/11 victims, take a look at these heartstopping photographs from 9/11. Then, learn about the nine deadliest days in American history.
