2,996: Remembering Paul Ortiz

2,996 is a tribute to the victims of 9/11. On September 11, 2006, 2,996 volunteer bloggers will join together for a tribute to the victims of 9/11.

Each person will pay tribute to a single victim.

I pay tribute today to a well loved young man named Paul Ortiz,21, a computer technician at Bloomberg L.P.



Paul or "Paulie" as his family and friends called him, was the loving father to Rebecca and a doting husband to his wife Star.

He enjoyed spending time at the beach, camping, shooting pool, and even ice skating! He was an active member of his local Kingdom Hall, and found himself embraced by the love of his fellow Jehovah's Witnesses.

He graduated from Brooklyn Tech High School in 1998 and soon after was sporting a briefcase with the Bloomberg logo on it. Students who went to school with Paulie remember him as a hardworking, honest, caring, thoughtful, smart and vibrant young man with the whole world in front of him. He was always ready with a smile and a hand to those who needed help.

One friend from school says of Paul,"He had everything going for him while some of us hadn't even started."

To the end, Paul thought only of others, according to his father, Paul Ortiz Sr.,"On 9/11 I had the chance of talking to Paulie via cell. He told me not to worry he was fine and that he was helping others and waiting for the firemen that he could hear in the stairwell. To tell Star, his wife that everything was OK."

Such courage, in such a young man.

The world was a better place, having had Paul Ortiz in it, even if for such a brief shining time.

I know in my heart that man is good.
That what is right will always eventually triumph.
And there's purpose and worth to each and every life.
-Ronald Reagan

To read more about Paulie, please visit Wall of Americans.