Twelve years have passed since the attacks on September 11, 2001. Still, every year on September 11, the victims of the terrorist attacks are remembered. A prominent victim was a man named Danny Lewin, the first man to die on that day. In a quote to CNN News, Tom Leighton, one of Lewin’s professors at Massachusetts Institute of Technology said that he was exceptionally smart and stood out among others.

Lewin’s family moved to Israel when he was young. Even during childhood, he stood out by being very smart and excelling in athletics. In the late 90’s, Lewin was a part of something life-changing. His company, Akamai Technologies, which he co-founded with Leighton, was able to make searching the Web faster and easier by creating an app to lower the possibility of crashing servers. Along with that success, Lewin decided to join the Israeli Army. On the fateful day of September 11, 2001, Lewin had to fly from Boston to Los Angeles after a business meeting. American Airlines Flight 11, the plane Lewin was on, crashed into the World Trade Center. Although it is not certain, he was most likely the first person to die due to the attacks made on that day.

The loss of Lewin caused his friends and colleagues to wonder what he could have accomplished if he had lived longer. In another quote to CNN news, Tom Leighton explained that Lewin was motivating and people generally responded well to him. With Arabic skills and mathematical skill as well as Israeli military training, many believed that if Lewin were still alive today, he might have become a high-profile name in the computer industry.

Although Lewin could have used his business skills alone and gone on to become a millionaire or billionaire, he chose to join the Israeli military and defend his country. Even when he was a part of changing the Web, he was never arrogant or conceited. Lewin deserves to be honored on September 11, 2001, as do countless other victims. It should be a day to remember and remorse the loss of all the important victims whose lives were cut short. To read more about Lewin’s life, visit the CNN link below.

http://www.cnn.com/2013/09/09/tech/innovation/danny-lewin-9-11-akamai/