Courtesy Mercedes Martinez
Emilio MartinezA woman has taken to the internet to find seven strangers from metro Denver that her late father helped on Sept.11, 2001, hoping to connect around the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks to honor her dad’s memory.
Mercedes Martinez, a Las Vegas radio host, posted a Twitter thread Thursday night sharing the story about her father’s good deed.
Emilio Martinez was on a flight home to Denver from Ohio after a business trip on 9/11 when the plane was grounded following the terrorist attacks, his daughter said. Emilio Martinez wound up at the Omaha, Nebraska, airport.
Although he didn’t know what had happened, Mercedes said he knew something was wrong and immediately called up a rental car service at the airport and reserved the largest van they had — an eight-passenger vehicle.
Emilio Martinez found a cardboard box near an airport trashcan, grabbed a marker and wrote “GOING TO DENVER” on the box to advertise the seven open seats in his rented van.
“He found 7 strangers, all scared (so was he), that just wanted to get home to their families,” Mercedes Martinez wrote on Twitter.
Folks piled into the van, and Emilio Martinez headed west about 500 miles, eventually reaching the Denver area, where he dropped his passengers off at their doorsteps in various suburbs.
Did my dad help you on September 11, 2001? If so, I'm trying to find you. (a thread)
On September 11th, 2001 my dad caught a flight in Ohio to fly home to Denver. He was there on business and was anxious to get home to see his family. (1/11)
— Mercedes Martinez (@MercedesLV) September 10, 2021
“They all offered to pay him for the cost of the van,” Mercedes Martinez wrote. “He wouldn’t accept it. They offered him gas money. He didn’t take it. To him, seeing those people make it to their families when the country was being attacked was the only thing that mattered to him.”
The daughter told The Denver Post on Friday that the act of kindness was in character for her father, who she described as “the teddy bear, the happy guy, the one who always helped everyone else.”
“It was just second nature for him,” Mercedes Martinez said. “Every year around this time, we would talk about it as a family, and he would say that anyone would do what he did.”
Emilio Martinez died of brain cancer in 2016.
This year, a family member asked Mercedes Martinez to write up the story so they could post it on their social media page.
“I started writing it last night, and it was like word vomit,” Mercedes Martinez said.
She wondered what kinds of conversations the strangers had in the van that day and thought finding the seven of them — or even one or two — might spark some sweet memories of her father she could cherish.
“For my own personal, selfish reasons, I’d like to know what happened and what they talked about, but also in the bigger picture, I think it would be cool for them all to see each other again,” Mercedes Martinez said. “Maybe they could get together.”
The radio host said she shared it on her social media pages Thursday night with the hope that some of her Colorado-based high school friends might see it and spread it around, but by the morning, the Twitter thread had exploded. More than 18,000 people had shared the story and counting by Friday afternoon.
“I was overwhelmed by people wanting to help,” she said. “I bet my dad is getting the biggest kick out of this.”
If anyone is connected to someone who rode in Emilio Martinez’s van to Denver on 9/11, they can contact Mercedes Martinez on Twitter (@MercedesLV) or Instagram (@msmertz).
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Did a man give you a ride to Denver from the Omaha airport on 9/11? His daughter is looking for you. - The Denver Post
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