9/11 Survivor · U.S. Marine Veteran · Author · Keynote Speaker
Bob Jenkins
He walked down 39 floors. He's been walking toward purpose ever since.
Coming January 2027
Stairway to Heaven
A 9/11 Survivor's Story of Courage, Resilience, and Purpose
Bob Jenkins was on the 39th floor of the North Tower on September 11, 2001. STAIRWAY TO HEAVEN is the story of how he got out — and the story of everything that came before it. A difficult childhood. The Marine Corps. Ordinary moments that turned out to be anything but. Bob didn't know he was being prepared. He was simply living his life. Only years later did he begin to understand how those experiences had prepared him for September 11.
We all spend our lives believing we are preparing for careers, marriages, children, promotions, and retirement.
Only when we look back do we realize we were also preparing to become the person we were meant to be.
This is the story of how a lifetime of ordinary experiences quietly prepared me, just an ordinary guy, for an extraordinary day — and how we often don’t recognize that preparation until we’re looking back.
It winds through a difficult childhood, boarding school, the demanding discipline of Marine Corps boot camp, the deserts of Twentynine Palms, a swimming pool in Okinawa Japan, friendships forged through hardship, lessons learned from remarkable leaders, mistakes honestly admitted, and countless moments that seemed ordinary when they occurred.
Bob Jenkins
September 11, 2001
The building shook violently. It swayed and rocked back and forth like a palm tree in a hurricane. I dug deep for the training I had received in the Marine Corps; DO NOT PANIC, PANIC IS WHAT GETS YA KILLED!
On the morning of September 11, 2001, Bob Jenkins was on the 39th floor of the North Tower of the World Trade Center when American Airlines Flight 11 struck the building. What happened next — and the life experiences that unknowingly prepared him for that moment — became the foundation of everything he shares today.
Keynote Speaking
One Morning. Thirty-Nine Floors. A Lifetime That Had Prepared Him.
Resilience Under Pressure
Bob was on the 39th floor of the North Tower when the world changed. What got him down those stairs wasn't luck — it was a lifetime of preparation he didn't know he was getting. He shares what that looks like in real life, under real pressure.
Leadership in Crisis
The Marine Corps taught Bob that panic can get people killed. That lesson stayed with him on September 11 and helped him remain calm, think clearly, and keep moving when everything around him was chaos.
Purpose After the Unthinkable
Walking out of the North Tower wasn't the end of Bob's story. It was the beginning of understanding why all those earlier years — the hard ones, the quiet ones, the ones that seemed to lead nowhere — actually mattered.
Ready to bring Bob's story to your audience?
Bob speaks at corporate events, military gatherings, leadership conferences, and memorial ceremonies. If your audience needs to hear a story that is real, earned, and worth their time — Bob Jenkins is that speaker.