For a Vietnam vet, reverberations from bygone eras

Even 3,000 miles away, Tim Pinkney, an adviser with the Savant Group in Citrus Heights, Calif., deeply felt the shock waves of 9/11. “As a Vietnam combat veteran, flying from aircraft carrier USS Enterprise — and with 22 years in the service — the attack immediately brought to mind the sneak attack on Pearl Harbor 60 years earlier, throwing us into World War II,” he said. “This attack caused us to become involved in the current decade-long war on terror.” “War brings people closer together,” Mr. Pinkney said. “I remember being so proud of seeing all the American flags everywhere.” His firm's relationship with its clients remained intact in spite of the chaos. “On 9/12, we sent a full page e-mail to all our clients. After offering our condolences to anyone who had someone directly or indirectly involved, we offered our take on what the U.S. markets might be doing when they reopened, after a weeklong closing,” Mr. Pinkney recalled. “We were very happy to see that not one of our clients changed their allocations or, more importantly, moved out of U.S. equities into non-fluctuating money market funds. We felt we had earned our clients' trust, and they said so with their money staying put — with us and in the investments we recommended,” Mr. Pinkney said. Last year, he visited New York for the first time, and he went to pay his respects at Ground Zero. The occasion was made more poignant for him due to a chance meeting with a homeless Vietnam-era veteran. “Something told me to stop, not to just pass by. We talked and talked and really connected,” he said. A fitting gift of healing amid the remnants of destruction.