email173.xml
Title
email173.xml
Source
born-digital
Media Type
email
Date Entered
2002-05-08
September 11 Email: Body
X-Mozilla-Status2: 00000000
Message-ID: <3BAA3374.820A4366@cooper.edu>
Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2001 13:20:43 -0500
From: x
Organization: The Cooper Union School of Art
To: X
Subject: RECOVERY
I am totally aware that I may be starting to annoy you with these messages, but the desire to share and the immediacy of pressing a "send" button provokes me. Please remember that the "delete" button is as easy to press.
James' brother Tom and his trusty German Shepherd Tango have been involved in Search and Rescue operations for several years now. Tom lives just the other side of the Hudson in New Jersey and was walking Tango when he saw the second plane hit the WTC. His resolve to help has been steadfast, and I thought would send you his latest news from what is now being called "Ground Hero" XB
Tango and I are are officially on the job, having just spent two days in the recovery (sadly) phase of the response to the attack. We are off today but will return tommorrow to Staten Island, site of the formerly-closed landfill (aka dump) where hundreds upon hundreds of trucks dump the wreckage from lower Manhattan.
I will spare you the gruesome details.
They are settling in for the long haul. It has the makings of a small city up there already. Mobile offices were brought in yesterday, the National Guard is laying concrete, and there are probably 20 tents there already. National Guard, NYPD, FBI, Secret Service, FAA. Trucks the size of a 3-story building move the wreckage into piles where law enforcement agents armed with rakes and shovels pull out the large pieces of metal. Then a dog checks the piles. All the while, these huge trucks and bulldozers are milling about and the FAA "sharpshooters" fire noisemakers at the seagulls to keep them away. Armagedon Junior we call it.
We all wear white "bodysuits", safety glasses, hardhats and respirators. We also are provided free clothing including brand-new boots (donated by Nike) that we are encouraged to discard.
This setting, with the noise, machinery and sheer number of people, really impairs the ability of the dogs so we work them for only 20-30 minutes before resting them again. Tango probably had 5-6 "shifts" each day. I won't work Tango more than two days in a row.
Tuesday night we spent at a Red Cross shelter where out-of-town firefighters are also staying. Every need is met there - beds, showers, towels, underwear. Donations for the dogs include tons of food (not my brand, though), vitamins, eye and ear ointment and thousands of pairs of booties.
I am going to take care of myself (and Tango) throughout this. I'll back off when I need to. I am unclear, as we all are, how long a period of time before the dogs' impact will lessen. I'd guess probably less than 10% of the wreckage has been transported to the landfill.
Life has changed.
Message-ID: <3BAA3374.820A4366@cooper.edu>
Date: Thu, 20 Sep 2001 13:20:43 -0500
From: x
Organization: The Cooper Union School of Art
To: X
Subject: RECOVERY
I am totally aware that I may be starting to annoy you with these messages, but the desire to share and the immediacy of pressing a "send" button provokes me. Please remember that the "delete" button is as easy to press.
James' brother Tom and his trusty German Shepherd Tango have been involved in Search and Rescue operations for several years now. Tom lives just the other side of the Hudson in New Jersey and was walking Tango when he saw the second plane hit the WTC. His resolve to help has been steadfast, and I thought would send you his latest news from what is now being called "Ground Hero" XB
Tango and I are are officially on the job, having just spent two days in the recovery (sadly) phase of the response to the attack. We are off today but will return tommorrow to Staten Island, site of the formerly-closed landfill (aka dump) where hundreds upon hundreds of trucks dump the wreckage from lower Manhattan.
I will spare you the gruesome details.
They are settling in for the long haul. It has the makings of a small city up there already. Mobile offices were brought in yesterday, the National Guard is laying concrete, and there are probably 20 tents there already. National Guard, NYPD, FBI, Secret Service, FAA. Trucks the size of a 3-story building move the wreckage into piles where law enforcement agents armed with rakes and shovels pull out the large pieces of metal. Then a dog checks the piles. All the while, these huge trucks and bulldozers are milling about and the FAA "sharpshooters" fire noisemakers at the seagulls to keep them away. Armagedon Junior we call it.
We all wear white "bodysuits", safety glasses, hardhats and respirators. We also are provided free clothing including brand-new boots (donated by Nike) that we are encouraged to discard.
This setting, with the noise, machinery and sheer number of people, really impairs the ability of the dogs so we work them for only 20-30 minutes before resting them again. Tango probably had 5-6 "shifts" each day. I won't work Tango more than two days in a row.
Tuesday night we spent at a Red Cross shelter where out-of-town firefighters are also staying. Every need is met there - beds, showers, towels, underwear. Donations for the dogs include tons of food (not my brand, though), vitamins, eye and ear ointment and thousands of pairs of booties.
I am going to take care of myself (and Tango) throughout this. I'll back off when I need to. I am unclear, as we all are, how long a period of time before the dogs' impact will lessen. I'd guess probably less than 10% of the wreckage has been transported to the landfill.
Life has changed.
September 11 Email: Date
September 20, 2001
September 11 Email: Subject
RECOVERY
Collection
Citation
“email173.xml,” September 11 Digital Archive, accessed July 1, 2024, https://911digitalarchive.org/items/show/39067.