Memories of Sept. 11, 2002

My own 9/11 or Sept. 11 story is different than most, because the truly lasting impact on my life took place relating to Sept. 11, 2002.

This is not to say that Sept. 11, 2001, was anything a crushing experience. The images on television were so awful, and this may sound odd, but my personal horror was increased because I'm tremendously scared of heights. Therefore, with the first sight of people jumping from buildings, I literally had to run to the bathroom and wretch.

Still, my job at the time was as a news reporter for our then-daily paper in Saginaw, Mich. My home is within 5 minutes of the office, so I arrived in the newsroom almost immediately. Reporters learn to keep emotions in check, which is what I managed while seeking local reaction from people in various walks of life. Personally, I had no relatives or friends at the World Trade Center.

Now let's move toward Sept. 11, 2002. Each reporter was asked to submit story ideas for one-year anniversary coverage, localized of course to Saginaw. My main assignment was to interview the seven Saginaw Red Cross volunteers who had served at or near Ground Zero during the past year. I shouldn't have been surprised at the depth of their stories, or at their outstanding personal qualities, but the impressions still stay with me today.

--- The Rev. Ray E. Dice is a hospital chaplain who has tended to the corpses of car crash victims and so forth, but he said nothing prepared him for what he encountered in New York City. He was blessing body parts, or coats of firefighters with nothing but dust inside. He told me: "Part of the usual grief process and closure is to walk into a hospital and find the body of a loved one. Without that, it took a unique sort of care to support families in that type of environment."

--- Kathy Lorentzen performed ceremonies for the loved ones of Sept. 11 victims and memorized the words: "On behalf of the mayor and the people of New York City, we would like to present this urn and flag in honor and remembrance of your loved ones." She presented the urns in formal military style, with left hand underneath, right hand on top, right hand pointed to the left. The urns served as a sort of substitute when bodies never were found. Three times, said Kathy, women who had lost their husbands were carrying new babies in tow.

--- Pam Pemberton worked an overnight shift at the Red Cross Respite Center. She encountered a steelworker who had fought in Vietnam, received his honorable discharge, and then helped to build the World Trade Center during the 1970s. The veteran told her, "This isn't why we fought in the war. We fought to prevent this."

--- Geraldine Monville recalls, "Even the dogs, you could see the sadness on their faces. It was like the dogs were saying, 'I'm here to do a job, and I'm not finding people alive.'"

Geraldine Monville also recalls serving 12-hour shifts at Ground Zero, and then retiring to her hotel room to wash her clothes in the sink and to get some rest. She would turn on the television and view allegations, at the time, that the Red Cross was corrupt in handling disaster donations. Geraldine's reaction:

"I shouldn't say this, but a few times I watched TV and I felt like asking those critics, 'Why don't you try getting out and working 10 to 12 hours a day, three weeks at a time, Christmas and birthdays?' There aren't many people who will go three weeks for no pay, away from their families, in floods and tornados, in hotels with no power, in hot places with no air conditioning. The few we have, thank God we're American Red Cross volunteers."

Readers: Now do you see why Sept. 11, 2002, had such a profound effect on me? The Red Cross consists almost entirely of volunteers from our hometowns, and they serve not only at national disasters, but also with local house-fire and disaster victims. I'll always support the Red Cross, with admiration for people such as Geraldine Monville and Pam Pemberton, Kathy Lorentzen and the Rev. Ray Dice.

In closing, Pam Pemberton never will forget a young mother, newly widowed, standing at Ground Zero and crying, "Why? Why?" The woman's 5-year-old son looked at her and simply said, "God blinked."