A powerful West Village 9/11 memorial asks us not to forget one young office worker

On a traffic island at Hudson and Bank Streets is a small dark plaque. Obscured by tree branches, it’s a low-key memorial to a 31-year-old man killed in the Twin Towers on September 11, 2001. “In Memory of David Harlow Rice, World Trade Center II,” it reads, with Rice’s birth date and “9-11-01” embossed in bronze. Somebody placed that inconspicuous plaque on this peaceful stretch of the West Village who didn’t want Rice to be forgotten. Curious about his life, I found an obituary that provided some backstory. Rice was born in Oklahoma City, went to college at Loyola University in Chicago, then spent time in Africa as a Fulbright Scholar. His next move was to England to attend the London School of Economics. After graduating, he went back to Chicago to work at the investment banking firm Sandler O’Neil. In February 2001, he was transferred to the New York office in World Trade Center II—and was one of 66 Sandler O’Neill employees murdered on 9/11. “David will always be remembered for…