It’s been six long years since September 11, 2001. And it seems like it was yesterday. Everyone asks where were you and what were you doing. Like most people in America I know exactly where I was and exactly what I was doing but rather than write about that I want to remember John F. Puckett.

John was only 47 years old on September 11, 2001. He died that morning along with almost 3,000 others that day. But that’s only the end of the story.

But he was more than just a victim.

John was born in Chicago and raised in Las Vegas, and began playing bass guitar at the age of 13.

He was a musician and a self-trained audio engineer who worked in recording studios in Vegas with B.B. King, Johnny Mathis, Smokey Robinson, and Frank Sinatra.

"Don't mention Sinatra," John used to say. "It makes me sound old."

He met Regina Bogan in 1994 after her boss set them up on a blind date. Friday the 13^th, an unlucky day for some, but not for them. They moved in together 3 months later.

"We always considered each other soul mates," she said.

He ran his own business, All Digital Audio, which he operated out of the Glen Cove home he shared with Bogan and various members of their blended family: his children, Michael and Michele and her daughters, Marissa and Alicia.

He left that morning to go to work at Windows on the World in the World Trade Center.

I never met John Puckett and in fact I’ve never been to NYC or seen the World Trade Center in person. But September 11 isn’t just another day. And John Puckett isn’t just another victim. He was a father, a son, a brother, a soul mate and a friend.

I wrote this tribute last year and wanted to share it again this year. If you would like to read other tributes from the 2996 project, please click on the link above.