story6372.xml

story6372.xml

born-digital

story

yes

no

2002-09-12

A fellow instructor came to my classroom to tell me of the WTC attacks. I tried to see what was happening by going to njo.com. They have a NYC Skyline cam there, but the web traffic was too heavy to get on the site. I spent the day doing what most people did. I kept my ears open, watched the TV, listened to the radio.

The next day, my father, my brother and myself were deployed with the Salvation Army Disaster Services to NYC. We arrived in NY to the 61st Armory on 26th street. The city was using this building as a place for people to file missing persons reports and to wait for news about loved ones. Our role was to provide comfort and supplies. When we arrived, our truck was already filled to the max with food, drink and supplies. It wasn't long before people were asking what they could do or simply bringing things.

Outside the armory, greiving people lined around the block. All of them were waiting in line to file their reports. People were in the streets talk to TV crews, holding up pictures of someone they couldn't find. They all spoke into the camera as if whoever they were looking for had simply gotten lost in another part of town. But as soon as the cameras shut off, you could see in their faces, they knew where their missing loved ones were. The street next to our truck was filled with food and cases of water. People from restaurants were bringing us chicken, baked ziti, all kinds of stuff. No one outside was eating though. They only thing the people in line seemed to want was the occasional bottle of water and someone to hold their spot in line if they had to go to the bathroom.

Inside the armory, there were thousands of people. National Gaurd and NYPD were all over the place. Rudy Guliani has just left after speaking to the people inside the armory. We went in hoping to put all of the food to good use, but no one inside wanted to eat either. I couldn't blame them. Everyone looked like they had been gut kicked. There were tables filled with supplies with nurses giving first aid to some people. I asked one of the nurses if they were low on anything. "Advil and Kleenex." she said. Shortly after, two average looking passers by asked us if there was anything we needed. I passed on the Advil and Kleenex request and although they looked like could use $100 bucks themselves, they returned with two grocery bags full of both.

President Clinton was walking the streets that afternoon. While he was speaking to someone in the crowd, a young girl, early twenties, was standing there with a blank expression, like she had been up all night. As soon as President Clinton turned to her, she showed him a picture of her husband and started crying. If you didn't know what was going on or what was being said, It looked like a little girl turning to her father right after her puppy had been run over. I cried for over an hour after that. All I could think about was my wife.

That was only parts of our first day in the city, but for me, it was the most profound. I can't say I reacted the way I thought I would. Personally, I thought the whole experience brought out the worst in me. I was irritable and impatient. I was frustrated over the lack of organization we were dealing with. But now I can say, I did my best. How do your organize a tragedy of that scale?

I'd like to thank all of the people who came and helped. NY is a big place and you could have stayed north of 40th street and not even seen anything of what was going on.

I'd also like to convey my extreme pride in NY's former mayor, Rudy Guliani. Most of the time, when a politician's term is up, the people aren't opposed to electing a new official. I can't recall a time where the American people loved a politician so much, they were ready to modify the law the allow Rudy to remain in office beyond his term.