Kurt D. Bruckmann Sr. is a Master in Core Energy Dynamics being one of a few in the world. He provides the understanding of how our mind-body-energy connection operates delivering solutions for optimized outcome. Founder of Continuum Core Coaching and a Internationally acclaimed best selling author of "Ready Connect Grow" Anthology published 2023.
Choice to withdraw or grow through it and thrive! Being a two time survivor of world trade center attacks, put me in a position to either withdraw or to grow through it and thrive from the outcome.
"On February 26, 1993, at about 17 minutes past noon, a thunderous explosion rocked lower Manhattan. It is interesting for me to see that the world does not talk much about the February 26,1993 terrorist attack on the World Trade Center. It’s understood that the country suffered a horrible loss of lives on that fateful day September 11, 2001. No matter, that is no excuse to not focus or to keep properly acknowledging the first attack which was clearly a warning sign to our country and world.
The epicenter was the parking garage beneath the World Trade Center where a massive eruption carved out over 100 foot crater several stories deep and several more high. Six people were killed almost instantly along with an unborn baby. Smoke and flames filled the garage and streamed upward into the building. Those who weren’t trapped were soon pouring out from the Towers, many panic stricken and covered in soot. More than a thousand people were hurt in some way, some severely with crushed limbs. Meanwhile, the mastermind of the World Trade Center bombing was still on the run and up to no good. We’d learned his name was Ramzi Yousef. Within weeks after the attack it was discovered he was planning more attacks, including the simultaneous bombing of a dozen U.S. international flights. Yousef was captured in Pakistan in February 1995, returned to America and convicted along with the van driver, Eyad Ismoil.
I have two friends that were taking a break from the trading floor and had parked in the garage of the World Trade Center (WTC). They got into their car to head north up the West Side Highway to go for lunch. Just as they were pulling out of the garage the bomb went off. Their car was shot like a cannon into the air and instead of facing north on the W. Side Highway their car landed on the southbound side facing oncoming traffic which they narrowly escaped.
They were extremely fortunate to have only sustained so called minor physical injuries. The emotional injuries far outweigh those of their external injuries. They were seriously traumatized and could not come back to work for some time. Having known these two men, their strength of character and courage as leaders in their own right, I saw them become lost. They had been diminished in so many ways that their emotional fortitude had been broken. With tremendous support and help from our community, their families and friends, they eventually were able to collect themselves and come back to work at WTC but never in the full capacity that they had previously. They were truly changed men forever.
Building a community
When construction on the World Trade Center began on August 5th 1966, it was one of the most ambitious projects in size and scale ever conceived. Construction began with most of the work in the first two years taking place below street level. The Twin Towers began their vertical climb in 1968. The North Tower was completed first in December 1970, followed by the South Tower in July 1971. World Trade 3,4,5,6 and 7 were completed soon after. The North Tower stood over a quarter-mile tall at 1,368 feet. Its transmission tower with broadcast antennas added about 360 feet more. The South Tower stood over a quarter-mile tall at 1,362 feet. Each of the Twin Towers had 110 floors. Each tower’s footprint and floors were approximately one acre in size.
On windy days each tower could sway up to almost 12 inches side to side. There were 43,600 windows in the Twin Towers equating to more than 600,000 square feet of glass. It took 20 days to wash them all. There were 198 elevators in the Twin Towers and 15 miles of elevator shafts. The Twin Towers were among the first skyscrapers to utilize a system of local and express elevators. Each express elevator in the Twin Towers could hold up to 55 adults. When they were installed their motors were the largest in the world.
The World Trade Center Complex had more than 20 different food and drink vendors capable of feeding a population of 150,000 each day. Many corporate tenants also had their own full service kitchens to cater to employees and clients. In 2001, the restaurant Windows on the World, which also operated two subsidiary restaurants, Wild Blue and the Greatest Bar on Earth, employed approximately 450 people who spoke more than 60 different languages. These dining places were located at the top of the North Tower with a spectacular view of the City, its 5 Boroughs, parts of New Jersey, Long Island and Connecticut.
As a young boy living in New Jersey my family and I would drive to New York City for events or to meet with some relatives. I remember vividly looking at the construction of WTC with awe from its very beginning to its completion. I would always ask questions to my father and mother about the building of the two highest towers in the world to be. I was fascinated with their size and forever seemingly scaling height getting lost into the skies above. My parents told me that when the towers were completed and the WTC Complex was finished that they would take me to the top of the Towers. It was that moment that I had made a promise to myself that one day I would work in the greatest buildings in the world. My dream eventually became a reality.
Then it began
There was massive devastation from the first terrorist attack in 1993 that was caused by the car bomb packed with 1,200 pounds of deadly explosives placed in the parking garage underneath the Twin Towers. The van was parked in a spot of the garage which the terrorist thought would take down the support beams and foundation of One World Trade. Intern it would fall into Two World Trade tower and take that down with it.
I went down into the garage two days after the bombing and experienced sites that I had only seen on TV of the wars and destruction happening on foreign soil in other countries. Major support beams for the Towers, which four grown men combined could not wrap their arms all the way around, were turned into the shape of twizzlers. The front end of hundreds of cars had melted to the back end of the trunks looking like just one piece of balled up melted metal. I had stepped for the first time in my life into a live war zone and experienced the visual damage that could’ve easily led to far more destruction and loss of many more lives.
There were still remnants of dust from the explosion weighing heavily through the air. There were hundreds of workers down in the garage including clean up personnel who worked tirelessly through the devastation physically while remaining silent from talk absorbing the emotional and psychological impact. I was in a state of shock. It was truly a harrowing experience, one that became embedded in my mind as I thought I would never see anything like it again. Then 8 years later a more severe and devastating attack took place on that fateful day September 11, 2001. The Country suffered horrific consequences. I lost 34 of my closest friends, ex employees and fellow traders that day.
Fear had struck and seized the WTC community. After the first terrorist attack, thousands of workers in the WTC complex which included the Two Towers and 3,4,5,6 and 7 Trade Center buildings, decided to relocate away from the Complex or simply left the area and workforce completely in anticipation of another attack. Fear and the trauma it created shook people to their core. Lives and families became more important than jobs. Life had shifted with devastating effects. The energy had changed forever. Many companies had to downsize or close as thousands retired early and the average employee sought more freedom and flexibility in their working schedules away from WTC. Priorities had begun to shift as the harsh reality of vulnerability took over. People for the first time felt a loss of freedom and the safety that goes with it.
Remember the future
The small percentage of people after the 1993 attack who decided to stay and continued working in the WTC Complex formed a community within a community. We all felt the need to be more alert and aware of our surroundings and the familiar faces of people we knew and faces of those we did not. The instinct to survive as a community kicked into full gear. We formed friendships of unconditional energy that are still active to this day. As we collaborated our courage through trusting our process, safety and the sense of freedom started remerging. Still the fear of another attack was prevalent as we all came to understand that the terrorist had not yet achieved their goal to destroy the WTC Towers and Complex. Those of us who stayed became very restless in anticipation of another attack. For me having been in the garage years before, I could not imagine what it would look like if the van had been placed in the spot that the terrorist had intended. To visualize another attack to be worse, was difficult for me to fathom.
I had learned years ago from my upbringing to not carry fear. I was taught by my family mentors that fear is temporary for it comes and goes. Like time which never stops moving or changing, fear would go away. I was taught to alleviate caring fear and to just allow it to come visit then to deal with it in that moment, recognize it, accept it with awareness and remove fear with confidence. Embracing the understanding of fear allowed me the energy I hold within to manage it and send it away. I do not harbor fear. This is where fear will start to take control of our emotional and psychological state if we do. That’s when we step in with all our experience and understanding that fear is only temporary and that we are in control of it, not fear being in control of us. This is our savior in any means of recovery from such experiences.
As time moved forward from the days of the February 26, 1993 terrorist attack myself and the community continued to grow closer. We were searching for that place of being uncomfortable getting comfortable. We would spend hours, days and in the years to come finding safety in the place we called our second home.
Then it happened
“That Fateful Day Which Began With Beautiful Clear Blue Skies And Plush Sunlight, September 11, 2001”
On September 11th, 2001 approximately 50,000 people worked at one of the 7 buildings in the WTC Complex. When the planes struck, around 15,000 people were in the World Trade Center buildings. The 1993 WTC bombing killed six people, an unborn baby and injured over a thousand, while the 2001 attacks killed nearly 3,000 people and injured more than 6,000 others. However, at least 10,000 people escaped the 1993 bombing by remaining in the two buildings below the point of impact. In 2001, more than 4,000 people survived below the crash line, while 1,360 people died at or above the crash site. That day 2996 people were killed and over 6000 injured. Twenty four people were still officially listed as missing in 2019 and as of September 2021, the remains of 1,106 victims of the attacks have yet to be identified. Despite the advancements in DNA technology, roughly 40% of the victims, or about 1,100 people thought to have died in the disaster, remain unidentified.
The terrorist attack on World Trade Center was one of the most observed catastrophes in history and those who fell or jumped from the towers were briefly its most public victims. They emerged one or two at a time from a blanket of smoke and fire that rendered mass death virtually invisible. Nearly all the others killed that day whether high in the trade center, on board the hijacked airplanes or deep inside the Pentagon were beyond the sight of survivors and witnesses. Those who came through the windows of the towers provided the starkest, most harrowing evidence of the desperate conditions inside. Since then they have largely vanished from consideration. Newspapers, multimedia, magazines, television, streaming and SEOs rarely publish images of the falling people. Evacuation studies concentrated on the accounts of survivors.
From the me, to the we, to the us
September 11 affected more than just New York residents. News programs replayed video footage of the tragedy continuously in the days following 9/11 forcing many Americans to deal with feelings of stress, anxiety, guilt, depression and more. This far reaching media coverage affected people who were not directly involved in the event but saw it on television. The September 11 attacks traumatized many Americans creating or worsening mental health problems in people across the United States. They dealt with higher levels of stress and anxiety in the day’s aftermath. In some cases people began using drugs or alcohol or other toxic means to escape their distress. The surrounding New York area in particular seemed to have been affected the most.
I live in Monmouth County, New Jersey. 750 New Jerseyans died on 9/11. There were 147 people from Monmouth County who perished in the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001. For days and weeks afterward people visited Mount Mitchell in Highlands N.J. where I live which from its highest point overlooks lower Manhattan and Long Island to observe the plumb of smoke to be seen from miles around, to reflect and remember. People stood for hours and days in silence holding one another wiping away silent rivers of tears. The smoke lingered for many months that was visible and then many months more less visible. The material that was being emitted from the site was through dust in the air while its emission continued for ten years. This dust had a quite distinctive odor and was severely irritating to the respiratory tract. The work took many months, some of it years and involved employees from dozens of City, State, Local and Federal Agencies with the tireless efforts of responders, laborers, contractors, volunteers, and community organizations.
“There Is Sacredness In Tears. They Are Messengers Of Overwhelming Grief And Unspeakable Love.” Washington Irving
Part of the fallout people experienced after the World Trade Center attacks is PTSD, binge drinking, survivors guilt, depression, anxiety, isolation and fear, all of which I work with to this day helping people through these issues delivering the understanding of our Core Energy Dynamics.
The small business sector suffered major losses especially enterprises near the World Trade Center in lower Manhattan. Almost 18,000 small businesses were shut down or destroyed and an estimated 600,000 jobs were lost as a direct consequence of the terrorist attacks. Of those lost jobs, 226,000 were in travel and tourism. At the World Trade Center, 1,100 businesses were disrupted. Many failed.
One week after the terrorist attack on 911, I had to start walking through the "War Zone", as we were required to refer to it, twice a day to and from work. My company Bruckmann Trading Group specialized in the execution and trading of Gold, Silver and Copper in the Futures Market of Commodities. We were an International market and had to open less than one week later. The Commodities were the first business to go back to work just one block from the “War Zone". We were the only business to open in the immediate area for months. Downtown was empty and desolate until stepping into the ''War Zone" which was a mass pile of smoldering rubble.
The cloying smell of burning rubble, steel, asbestos mixed with the very pungent smell of nearly 3,000 decaying bodies was indescribable. A smell I will never forget. There was a massive amount of cleanup personnel along with government agencies throughout all areas of the remains. As the days moved on we all became friendly, on a first name basis having one thing in common at that point, that we were in some way connected to the event and that we were still alive. We became a community within a community. We learned to trust one another and watch our 6’s, (our backs).
The fall of the World Trade Center towers created a giant toxic cloud. It was a blend of soot from fires burning off jet fuel, asbestos and other chemicals, plus the dust of pulverized building materials such as glass and metal which had been used extensively as a flame retardant in the Towers upon construction. On Sept. 13, an Environmental Protection Agency administrator mistakenly claimed there appeared to be “no significant levels of asbestos dust in the air in New York City,” creating a false sense of safety. Ground Zero smoldered for months releasing dangerous fumes the entire time.
When the fallout of terrorist attacks take hold
The traumatic events on 9/11 and the recovery efforts that followed had a major impact on the mental health of thousands of people involved. Some continue to struggle. Currently, more than 19,000 members of the WTCHP have been officially diagnosed with one or more mental health conditions, including 638 members who are now deceased. As of December 2019, the most common conditions certified by the World Trade Center Health Program were rhinosinusitis, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), asthma, sleep apnea, post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) respiratory disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, depression, anxiety disorder and different forms of cancer. Respiratory and digestive issues are the most commonly reported. Chronic rhinosinusitis or chronic inflamed sinuses tops the list of reported illnesses with almost 33,000 current cases among first responders and survivors. PTSD are the most common health effects of the 9/11 attacks. Up to 30% of adults directly exposed to the disaster or injured in the attack had
PTSD symptoms months after and to this day which is four times the rate in the general population. Those suffering a 9/11 related loss were twice as likely to be diagnosed with a mental health condition including survivors' guilt. Physical pain and tension that is not the result of any other medical condition can happen anywhere in the body for trauma survivors. It is most commonly held in the core of the body, stomach, abdomen, back, as well as the upper torso, chest, shoulders, and spine.
Survivors' guilt became prevalent among many of the victims of a terrorist attack. Many suffered the death of family members, close friends, or work colleagues, which can lead to a complicated bereavement with its own elevated risk for depression, self medication, and substance abuse. When working with guilt we find that in thinking about life, remember there is no amount of guilt that can solve the past and no amount of anxiety that can change the future. Understanding guilt is difficult. Being traumatized triggers responsibility for having done something wrong. Feelings of shame or regret as a result of bad or wrong conduct. Letting someone down. Affecting a sense of self-worth and self-esteem which can bring depression and anxiety causing energy blocks.
Anxiety became prevalent bringing feelings of worry such as nervousness about an eminent event or something with an uncertain outcome. Fear based. Feeling of tension worried thinking. Intrusive thoughts of concern. Self doubt. Frightened with distress. Causing clouding of ability for interacting with people in everyday situations. Causing emotional blocks. Triggering cortisol dumps creating draining catabolic energy preventing growth.
To work with and combat feelings of guilt and anxiety, being connected to our inner purpose helps with creating sustainable confidence. Knowing that we are resilient and can bounce back from any perceived setback. Light switch. Darkness to light. Having faith in our current plan and work that plan to excellence. Trusting the process knowing that we are always in growth coordinating with time which is constantly changing while moving forward providing opportunity. Applying conscious choice with presence of mind, using all tools in our toolbox for well-being. How we understand the behavior we choose and how we think and react to it. Faith in ourselves.
“Most people have not suffered trauma, but everyone has been wounded at some level. The hurt pocket begins as a place to hide our own pain from others which quickly becomes our way of attempting to conceal and suppress the pain which insists upon being attended to.” C.S. Lewis
Common treatment options for survivor's guilt include Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT): This type of therapy focuses on changing patterns of self blame or negative thinking. It teaches patients to restructure the thoughts that cause these negative outcomes and focus on the present. The use of (NLP) Neuro-Linguistic Programming is also proven to be very successful.
The energy of thriving through survival
Of all the health conditions along with different therapies and techniques to combat the fallout of the Terrorist attacks one in particular stood out the most. The strongest and perhaps least complex of all that has helped with people’s recovery has been The Energy of Love. Unconditional Energy of Love. Love produces an intuitive knowing between those who share love and the beloved blanketed by its trust. Love nurtures vulnerability and allows it to grow and blossom into seemingly unattainable possibilities. Love’s spirit manifests as energy, an energy that can transform a human touch or a gaze into a deep sense of protective knowing, kindness, compassion, and empathy. Love is a seer and doer. Love sees authenticity and embraces it and allows grounds for its cultivation regardless if there is space. Love is the basis for everything good, pure, and light filled. Love feels right all the time. Love is grace.
Love makes our inner voice sing in peaceful chords. Pure love feels safe and allows each person to be emotionally vulnerable and ask for their needs to be met. Each person feels heard and feels room to be who they are authentically while healing. When there is true love you feel a sense of calmness and know safety is still palpable. Unconditional love is known as affection without any limitations, or love without conditions. Unconditional love is when you love someone no matter what they do and have no expectation of repayment. It means you love someone for who they are, with no strings attached.
"The connection of love"
Connection with
the moment
to yourself
to others
to spiritual
to emotional
to consciousness
to synergy
to unconditional
to universe
Pure unconditional love is the most powerful form of energy in the kingdom of life. It is relentless. When we share and give love, the connection we form empowers a force which is able to take down all others. Love defends us from unknown and unexpected assaults. It lights up the darkest of emotional and physical pain. It fights back with fierce dedication.
Throughout all my personal experiences of trauma along with my research and studies, love always shows up with the strongest energy. It trumps all other health and wellness techniques. The energy in the power of love gives life its purpose and meaning. I have worked with trauma victims, depression, addictions, PTSD, isolation, guilt and fear. I work with businesses of all types and athletes of all walks experiencing setbacks, disruptions and obstacles through the process of understanding our Core Energy and its tools in Wellbeing, Leadership, Performance and Transition. Emphatically, out of all the tools and processes, Love has proven to be the most powerful and sustainable of all. It bonds us together like no other force of energy. It is something we create and share with others which builds trust. Love is the gateway for healing and recovering in all we do.
Love’s unconditional power beats the field of all other energy due to the fact it comes from deep within us. From our core. Some people struggle showing or giving love. Others struggle receiving and accepting love. When it's darkest love’s light smothers all those struggles. People release from force and find healing powers in the peace of sharing their love. Love builds resilience in people's ability to absorb stress, recover from cycling critical thoughts, draining emotions, traumatic experiences and thrive in altered circumstances. It positions people to rebound and recover from anything. Inner peace begins.
Upon the horrific effects from the WTC terrorist attacks the collaboration of love created a power of healing like no other. It gave back to people their sense of purpose, their sense of value. Their ability to keep moving forward knowing that there is always someone beside them to help in every way possible. What could be a greater healer, a greater fixer than the power of people to help one another help themselves. Love in its collective and collaborative form has proven since the time of man to be the savior from all disabilities, despair, disruptions, destructions and fear. Unconditional acts of love have saved uncountable people from their unwanted situations. Every event in our daily life is to prepare us for our future. Healing is a partnership with ourselves in the energy of our spirituality. It is true that “Love Conquers All.”
"Energy Can Neither Be Created Or Destroyed, Only Converted From One Form Of Energy To Another."
"Life With Love Will Cure All It Meets And Bring Peace Both Within And Out."
Let love lead the way
Kurt D. Bruckmann Sr., Core Energy Dynamics Master
Kurt D. Bruckmann Sr. is a leader in the understanding of Core Energy Dynamics. As a child he experienced several untimely tragedies in the loss of his father and other family mentor figures.
He turned to his teachings from them to embrace nature and its ever guiding lessons of continual growth while in a continuum of change. As his life evolved Kurt went on to build and establish his
own companywhile becoming one of the world's top precious metals traders on the floor of the commodities exchange in World Trade Center. He is a two time survivor of WTC attacks. He delivers his expertise of energy as founder of ContInuum Core Coaching. Kurt teaches and guides people in understanding their core energy. "From Impossible To I'm Possible"
