Trader 'Devastated' From 9/11 Shares Memories of That Day and What Followed

Nearly fifteen years after the 9/11 terror attacks, one NYSE trader remembers the shock, fear and confusion of that day and the numbness that followed in the weeks following the attacks. 'I can remember that day as clear as it happened yesterday,' said Peter Costa, president of Empire Executions. Costa was at the NYSE when both planes hit the Twin Towers. 'It was just horrible,' he said. Costa said in the frantic minutes that followed, traders feared the NYSE was also a target. For several days after the attacks, the New York Stock Exchange remained closed for trading. Costa said in was a difficult time for him and other members of the financial industry. 'I was in shock.  I was devastated from it. I couldn't stop crying,' he explained. 'Then, when we opened (for trading) I had to say I felt the proudest that I had ever been working on the trading floor. I was very proud of the way the exchange and the community held together,' said Costa. Today, Costa says he keeps the memories of 9/11 alive, but he does not live in fear of terrorism. 'I believe in the safety of this country. The terrorists are never going to win.'