Giovanni Renteria was in New York City undergoing training for Morgan Stanley in their offices inside the South Tower of the World Trade Center. On day two of the three-week program, Renteria and his colleagues finished their first session early. He and another employee headed downstairs for some coffee. While down there, they saw the debris falling after the first airliner struck the North Tower. Told by security that everything in the North Tower was fine and they should return to the office, Renteria and his colleague weren't so sure. It was then that the second plane hit the tower he was in.

In this edition of "Veterans Chronicles," Renteria walks us through that entire, horrible day. He explains the unlikely encounter that prevented him from going back upstairs, running from the building after the second plane struck, and watching people surrounded by flames on the upper floors choose to leap to their deaths. He also describes his response to the collapse of the towers and not knowing what happened to the rest of his colleagues. He also shares what that day taught him after more than two decades of reflection.