My sister sent me this email written by one of the rescue workers who is the son of a friend... I just came back from the WTC site again after another 36 hours there this time at "Ground Zero." I am safe and unhurt, at least physically. To my friends, please bear with me for the next few weeks. I know I am going to be more than a bit rocky emotionally for sometime. I don't think I will ever be able to tell all that I have seen. I don't think I want to or even will be able to. However, there are several things that I think people should know and think about. First, I need to talk about all the people I just spent the past 36 hours with. They are incredible beyond belief! 4:30 am Friday morning, when I returned to the WTC site, I headed straight to the American Express building (Financial 1). There, within minutes, I joined a small team of dedicated EMS workers. There were two firefighters from Rhode Island, one who had driven 20 hours nonstop from Dallas, Texas. Also, a wilderness EMT/avalanche recovery technician from Colorado who had been on vacation in New Jersey and came straight to help the moment the news came over the TV. We became inseparable. Throughout our time onsite, we worked shoulder-to-shoulder and hand-to-hand with EMS volunteers who had driven from Cincinnati Ohio, Palm Beach County Florida and Ottawa, Canada. At one point, a 12-man search and rescue team from France joined us arriving with their translator, two truckloads of specialty rescue equipment straight from Newark airport. It was the & "World " Trade Center. It has become a "World" rescue and recovery team -- brothers/sisters in solidarity, with a common cause to help rescue and recover. Then there were the volunteers. I have never seen anything like it. Civilians were helping and willing to do anything and everything. Cleaning floors so no one slips, carrying armloads of bottled drinking water to the rescue teams, handing out food, blankets or even, in one case, just guarding the rest of utterly exhausted sleeping EMS workers collapsed on blankets in open hallways. There were no arguments heard, nothing but help and assistance at every turn. I can't count the numbers of times I had to turn volunteers down because I couldn't drink anymore water, eat another bite of food or need another pair of socks. I lost track of the number of lives and injuries saved or prevented on the site both to myself and countless others. Every time I or someone else slipped on rain slick metal with twenty to fifty foot plus drops ending in jagged metal awaiting us, instantly at least three hands would grab you from every direction to prevent you from becoming part of the debris. I can't count the number of times I saw peoples lives saved or my own by our nameless brothers to whom we stood adjacent. More importantly, I can't thank them enough. Everyone there was amazing beyond belief. Many of the acts of heroism I saw that day will never be accounted and most will forever defy proper description. Finally, upon my return home I have to thank my next-door neighbors for opening their home to me. They talked and comforted me for almost two hours after I came home. Their compassion was boundless. Working at ground zero we uncovered a stairwell in the remains of Tower 1 where firefighters had been trying to evacuate people. Each time we brought out a firefighter, every man (four to five hundred of us in that line) would drop hard hats to the rubble pile in respect to the fallen heroes. Ironworkers, EMT's, volunteers, and firefighters all stood unprotected amongst the debris field until the stretcher had cleared the chain. Most of us touching in honor the shattered fire fighter helmets placed at the top of the bag before they were passed on. The entire line silent while their remains were passed from hand to hand out of the debris. The feeling of camaraderie, loss, sorrow and anger defy any description with which to do it justice. This describes the hardest moment I have ever been through in my whole life. At one point, I was standing on a hundred square foot side of building one, sixty feet above the remains of West Street. Every foot and a half was a three foot hole 8 feet long with at least a 15 foot drop onto jagged metal, shattered glass and iron rebar spikes. At least twelve of us were perched up there holding onto a litter containing a fallen firefighter. I was about to pass it on when a man placed his hand on my back and stopped me. I stood there stunned as a fire fighter Chaplain standing at my shoulder moved next to me to the head of the litter and administered last rights to his fallen comrade high above most of the visible wreckage. I remember passing the litter on after he had finished, I then stepped out of line and sat down. I have no recollection of the next ten minutes. I know the tears ran down my face carving channels as they weaved through the thick soot and ash, coating my face. Finally, there was an amazing response to my last email. Emails and even phone calls from all over the world -- something I never imagined or expected at the time I wrote it. <B><I>Many have asked what and if and how they can help. There is something. This was not just an attack on people; it was also an attack on the financial stability of the United States and the world. In the past week, most businesses have reported over a 70% loss in revenue since last Tuesday. No one is going out and buying any goods or services. If not checked early, the economy of the United States and the world could also crumble and fall into ashes, like the twin towers (even as we hope for it's transformation -- a phoenix of rebirth and glory). So please everyone go back to doing things. Buy movie tickets and go see them, buy new cars if you need or want one. Help to keep the economy going. No economy, no money to go after the terrorists who perpetrated this catastrophe. One last thought before I go. When the stock market opens on Monday, if you have the money please buy some stock. We can't afford to let the market crash because of this cowardly attack on our people and on the financial capital of the world. Will I go back again some asked? ... Every chance I get that they will let me in. It's the least I can do for all the others who long to be here, but can't. God bless and take care all. Many hugs and tears Craig I have another roll of film from "Ground Zero." I am not releasing these photos, unless someone specifically requests them from me. The devastation is exponentially worse that the original pictures I sent out--I kid you not. At the site where these pictures were taken grown men, experienced fire fighters and paramedics, broke down and cried upon just viewing the wreckage. As you walked through it at times you would look down and realize you were walking on top of a shattered fired truck or ambulance. A member of my team in the morning lasted 15 minutes before she lost it and just went home. She never even set foot outside the lobby of Financial building 2 and into the wreckage of "Ground Zero." At the camera store, the manager who has developed hundreds of rolls from the site in the last few days told me that this roll was the most moving and showed the worst devastation of any he had yet seen. So, please think twice before asking for the photos. -- Phyliss mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]
