Rescue worker shares his 9-11 WTC experience.
Oct. 24, 2001
I just had the opportunity to speak with a gentleman who was at ground zero of the WTC working with search and rescue two hours after the first plane hit. I have the feeling, after talking to him, of awe, like one might feel after talking to a war veteran. He was there. He was one of the brave men who was searching for life, putting his own life in jeopardy doing so.
He said that on that first day there was an overwhelming sense of evil. He was praying, and so was everyone else, to ward off that feeling. It was all pervasive.
He said there were ministers there who were just praying. That is all they were doing. And by the second and third day, that sense of evil began to dissipate.
He said they could sense the prayers of people all over the earth who were praying, and they needed those prayers.
Walking out there on that rubble, he said, was like walking on the edge of a precipice with loose gravel. One wrong step, and not only would you fall, but you would probably be sliced in half on the shards of glass and metal.
Friday afternoon, as he was out on the pile with his dog, and the lightning and thunder "was so close you could feel the back of your hair stand on edge," it was then that he realized that all the facade he has put on during his life, trying to be macho and such, portraying something that he is not, suddenly became apparent, and the need to just get real and get in touch with your feelings is where it is at. "It's okay to feel" he said, as if finally realizing that for the first time in his life.
His life came into focus because of that event. His priorities have changed.
He said he now has a strong sense of gratitude for life and for the simple pleasures that we take for granted.
"We were searching for life, but we found nothing. We just did the best we could, but there was nothing to be found."
When he was leaving at 4:00 am Saturday morning to go home, he said he was stopped by the military and asked for ID. Having had just four hours of sleep in the past few days,
he just laughed. Someone was being overly cautious on the heels of the President's visit the day before.
But in retrospect, he wonders where this country is headed because of this event.
He thanked me for the prayers I offered, even though I had not mentioned that I offered prayers. He thanked me for letting him tell me about this. It was a sublime experience.
I hope in my sharing it I've been able to convey at least a portion of what I was able to experience in talking to him.
Sincerely,
Sterling D. Allan
