Alex City Man Discusses Losing Brother To 9/11 Attacks
Flags are at half-mast all across the country as people remember the September 11 attacks — but for one Alexander City man, the moments constantly replay in his mind because his brother was killed in the attacks.
Jimmy Holley was a Vietnam War veteran, a father, husband, and brother. He went to work at the Pentagon on September 11 2001, a day that started out like any other, until the worst happened.
Every September 11, Bobby Holley is reminded not just what our nation faced in 2001 — the terrorist attacks that killed nearly 3,000 people — but that one of those victims was his brother, Jimmy Holley, an accountant working inside the Pentagon.
“Right in his window. The plan came right in the area he was working,” Said Bobby Holley.
For two months, he and his family waited. Was Holley dead?
“They found part of his torso. The impact you know, was probably just sudden death. And that… That sort of relieved me a little bit, but before that I was wondering did he just.. Was he trapped under his desk you know and just died of pain. A painful death,” Said Holley.
Questions to this day are still unanswered, but Holley says there’s one thing that’s certain…
“He was dynamite. He was the best brother you could have,” Said Holley. “He will always be remembered I would say as a hero, to me, if no one else, he’s a hero to me.”
While it’s been hard to forget, he says he’s forgiven those who took his brother’s life, but his legacy will stay forever in his heart.
“You will always be alive in my life. And my siblings life. And your family’s life… your wife, your children, your grandchildren… and that I love you. God bless America.”
Holley says he’s gotten by the last 13 years through prayer and the love of his family. He says there’s no doubt his family will remember his brother Jimmy Holley as a hero.
Holley’s immediate family lives in Maryland. His wife tells us they went to his gravesite today in Arlington Cemetery, just as they do every year. He would have been 68- years-old.
