PRESS RELEASE
Salvation Army Serving to Commemorate 9/11
September 8, 2011 – Salvation Army crews will be serving bottled water to those attending both the memorial mass at the St Paul Cathedral on Sunday and at a Minnesota Remembers gathering at Grace Church in Eden Prairie. The Salvation Army Twin Cities Commander, Major Jeff Strickler, will offer a prayer at the ecumenical commemoration at the State Capitol and in both Rochester and Albert Lea, Salvation Army officials will participate in days of remembrance. In addition, throughout the state, Salvation Army churches will remember the heroes, survivors and victims during services on Sunday.
Providing comfort in a bottle of water, a meal, or a listening ear was the role of The Salvation Army 10 years ago Sunday both in New York and Washington DC.
The Salvation Army was one of the first agencies on the scene of the 9/11 disaster and one of the last to leave more than a year later. Being the agency to serve meals to workers at Ground Zero from day one to the closing ceremonies more than a year later, The Salvation Army served more than 5 million meals and gave away millions of dollars in assistance to those whose lives were changed forever because of the attack.
The American people donated $90 million for Salvation Army relief efforts, nearly all of which was spent within a year of the attacks. Minnesotan's gave $1.7 million to help and 27 local Salvation Army staff and volunteers spent weeks on site serving over the course of 12 months. Some of the memories of those people are posted below.
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Terry Hildebrandt, Salvation Army Twin Cities social services director, served at Ground Zero both at the end of September and in December. During his initial service with Salvation Army disaster relief he earned the nickname of Radar (from TV show M.A.S.H.) because he was able to get supplies needed no matter what the request.
“There were places that didn’t have proper supplies – they’d just come to me and say – we need this or this. Like at the childcare center – ‘We need a rocking chair, CD player, etc.’ As I was working I met a man who had a rocking chair and I found out he needed ice so I said, ‘I’ll get you ice if I can have that rocking chair.’ It all snowballed from there. Even to the point of bartering packs of cigarettes. I had a little network going – trading to get what people needed.”
“During the night shift the guard was more down and it was easier to talk with people. I connected with people from all different companies whose businesses were housed in the towers and surrounding buildings. They were working round the clock. Instead of making people come to the dining area I would get together 50 plates and bring the supplies to them.”
“I’d find pockets of people who hadn’t been visited. At first I’d say – here I’ll give you this and say I’ll be back and they said, ‘Sure.’ They were shocked when I came back every night for three weeks straight taking care of these people.”
“Tracked some of people down at local restaurants and then they would come and volunteer at ground zero at night – I’d say don’t you sleep? It was the feeling – you mess with New York you mess with everyone. And now I have a special appreciation and understanding and concern – I feel like I’ve left a piece of me in Manhattan.”
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Dave Johnson, Salvation Army Twin Cities assistant social services director spent three weeks at the morgue during the summer the site closed.
“My main job was providing the food to the people there, making sure the hydration stations at the pit were supplied. I met so many of the construction workers who were there working the entire 8 months. One of the construction workers I came to know was the man who had found two pieces of steel beams twisted together to shape a perfect cross and he set it up. That became a place where people would come for reflection and a place where chapel was held. Standing in the pit at night and looking up and seeing flashes of what I remembered from being in the towers 20 years earlier.”
“We just did our daily jobs – thought of it as a mere pittance, yet we were thanked by everyone we were serving. And we sure weren’t expecting anything back. We thought of them as our heroes and in retrospect they treated us like we were their heroes. It was amazing.”
“When body parts would be found in the pit, all the work would stop as it was carried to the morgue. So much reverence was given by everyone. The same thing happened as families of the fallen would come to see the site, or come to identify their loved one. So much respect.”
“I am so humbled by the opportunity I had to be able to pray with some of these families. To think I would have people crying on my shoulder, that I would have that honor to be there in their time of grief. I had to rely on God to lead me to know how to respond.”
“The newness of terrorism really made an impact on everyone in the United States. The whole world was watching this.”
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Jim Daly, Salvation Army disaster services volunteer and retired police officer after 26 years of service for Ramsey County, spent two weeks in February at the morgue.
“There were so many police officers and firefighters who came to the morgue and what struck me is that others felt these were the heroes. The truth is, and I understand it as a cop myself, they felt as though – it wasn’t about being a hero – they were just doing their job. And the people we were able to serve looked at us like heroes. Again, we were just honored to have the privilege to serve them.”
“The saying goes, ‘There are no atheists in fox holes’ and that same sentiment rang true after 9-11. I met a police Lieutenant who was stopped three times on his way to the towers. He was hung up in different ways – like being stopped by a bus of surgeons who were in town at a convention wondering what they could do where they should go. By the time he got there the second tower had fallen. Had he not been stopped he would have likely been there at its collapse. So many stories like that. People felt it was by divine intervention that they somehow made it through – not just luck.”
“During my time there I worked the night shift and 20 bodies were recovered and brought to the morgue. They had uncovered a lobby where a bunch of police officers had lost their lives. When they were found there was a silent procession all the way from the pit, several miles. And when they arrived we stood at attention like an honor guard. It was a very moving experience.”
“There were memorials and shrines, burning candles and posters of missing people. Nothing compares to the sheer size of this. It wasn’t unlike Pearl Harbor. When you go there – looking at the ships and thinking of the men entombed there. It is a sacred hallowed place, like visiting a cemetery. Knowing something special had taken place here. Something to always remember.”
