Who was Benjamin Clark?

This is an abbreviated version of the article posted at http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2013/09/11/the-story-of-an-unsung-9-11-hero.html.  I encourage you to read the full article at the website.

This is an abbreviated version of the article posted online.  I encourage you to read the full article at the website.

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The Story of an Unsung 9/11 Hero

By Michael Daly - Sep 11, 2013 4:45 AM EDT

At midnight every September 11, Elsie Clark hangs a banner on the fence alongside the front-yard memorial to the 39-year-old son who perished at the World Trade Center.

“In Loving Memory
Benjamin Keefe Clark
9/11/01”

Benjamin Clark remained in the South Tower of the World Trade Center helping countless to safety.

The son was not a firefighter or a police officer.

He was a chef.

But a morning that began with him preparing meals for the people at the Fiduciary Trust Company suddenly led to him becoming as brave as any first responder. A Fiduciary official would later credit Clark with saving hundreds of lives as he made sure that everyone in his department along with everybody else in the company’s 96th floor offices in the South Tower was safely exiting the building.

He then paused on the 78th floor to assist a woman in a wheelchair.

“He could have gotten out,” his mother says. “Everybody else did.”

The mother would ascribe some of his courage to him having been a Marine for eight years.

“My son was a Marine, so you know he wasn’t going to leave anybody behind,” she says.

More than a Marine, he was Benjamin Clark, since his earliest years ever ready to lend a hand to whoever might need it. He had only to see a neighbor in need of assistance big or small and he would exclaim, “I’ll help! I’ll help!”

“He was always there to help,” his mother says.

Upon seeing others suddenly in the most mortal danger, his everyday decency had become uncommon courage. A chef known for his fabulous meatloaf and for remembering everybody’s name and favorite meals had proven as courageous as if he had stepped off an FDNY rig.

“A hero,” his mother says. “My hero.”

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The enormity of Benjamin Clark’s sacrifice is made apparent by the photos of his own five children hanging in his mother’s home. He had been happily married to a wonderful woman, LaShawn Clark, and he had been the happiest of dads.

“His wife and the five kids were his life,” Elsie Clark says. “If my son could have walked around with those kids in his pocket every day, he would have.”

She says that her grandson, Taj, had awakened at 4 a.m. on 9/11 as his father was getting ready for work.

“Taj woke up and told his dad, ‘Don’t go to work today. I don’t have a good feeling today,’” she says.

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More than 1,200 people attended his memorial service at the Marriott in downtown Brooklyn. They included people who were alive only because he had urged them on to safety.

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