The couple had worked 36 hours at a stretch, putting together a list of the missing after the attacks on the World Trade Center. Red Cross volunteers, they helped an effort that logged more than 62,000 worried phone calls.
On Friday, Paul MacIntosh and Monique Fernandez Yaptenco took a break and got married.
The bride wore a fuschia colored, nylon Lycra T-shirt by Calvin Klein and a lace garter pulled just above the knees of her dark gray slacks. The groom's hunter green fanny pack was belted securely over his jeans.
The couple exchanged vows in a crowded hallway at a public TV station where the pledge-drive phone banks were converted for the missing persons effort. Watching in a hush were 100 or so new friends, mostly volunteers who had been strangers 48 hours earlier.
"Out of this tragedy, they have the courage to refuse to set aside their decision to confirm their life and love," state Supreme Court Justice Diane Lebedeff said at the hastily planned ceremony.
Like so many others, the couple's plans were shattered by Tuesday's attacks.
MacIntosh, a software engineer from Thornton, New Hampshire, and Yaptenco, a Philippines-born New Yorker who works as a secretary at the UN, intended to marry Friday at City Hall before a few relatives. They had planned to visit the New York Aquarium before a honeymoon kayaking in Vancouver, British Columbia.
Instead, amid a city in chaos, they worked for a day-and-a-half to build a computer database. While 200 others answered phones, they logged into the computer precious bits of information on missing victims -- by Friday's count more than 4,700 -- from handwritten forms.
"Everything was on paper. Now there's a way to organize the paperwork," said Red Cross spokeswoman Devera Lynn, with a grateful nod to MacIntosh.
When the couple left reluctantly Thursday evening to get some rest, their new friends stepped in. A ceremony. A bakery -- found an hour and a half before -- donated the four-tiered vanilla cake.
For a best man, MacIntosh turned to Jeff Henigson, a volunteer from Pasadena, California.
"Hey Jeff, I need your help," he said, holding up two gold wedding bands. "Best man?"
RETHINK? The defense ministry and Navy Command Headquarters could take over the indigenous submarine project and change its production timeline, a source said Admiral Huang Shu-kuang’s (黃曙光) resignation as head of the Indigenous Submarine Program and as a member of the National Security Council could affect the production of submarines, a source said yesterday. Huang in a statement last night said he had decided to resign due to national security concerns while expressing the hope that it would put a stop to political wrangling that only undermines the advancement of the nation’s defense capabilities. Taiwan People’s Party Legislator Vivian Huang (黃珊珊) yesterday said that the admiral, her older brother, felt it was time for him to step down and that he had completed what he
Taiwan has experienced its most significant improvement in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, data provided on Sunday by international higher education analyst Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) showed. Compared with last year’s edition of the rankings, which measure academic excellence and influence, Taiwanese universities made great improvements in the H Index metric, which evaluates research productivity and its impact, with a notable 30 percent increase overall, QS said. Taiwanese universities also made notable progress in the Citations per Paper metric, which measures the impact of research, achieving a 13 percent increase. Taiwanese universities gained 10 percent in Academic Reputation, but declined 18 percent
BULLY TACTICS: Beijing has continued its incursions into Taiwan’s airspace even as Xi Jinping talked about Taiwan being part of the Chinese family and nation China should stop its coercion of Taiwan and respect mainstream public opinion in Taiwan about sovereignty if its expression of goodwill is genuine, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MOFA) said yesterday. Ministry spokesman Jeff Liu (劉永健) made the comment in response to media queries about a meeting between former president Ma Ying-jeou (馬英九) and Chinese President Xi Jinping (習近平) the previous day. Ma voiced support for the so-called “1992 consensus,” while Xi said that although the two sides of the Taiwan Strait have “different systems,” this does not change the fact that they are “part of the same country,” and that “external
UNDER DISCUSSION: The combatant command would integrate fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups to defend waters closest to the coastline, a source said The military could establish a new combatant command as early as 2026, which would be tasked with defending Taiwan’s territorial waters 24 nautical miles (44.4km) from the nation’s coastline, a source familiar with the matter said yesterday. The new command, which would fall under the Naval Command Headquarters, would be led by a vice admiral and integrate existing fast attack boat and anti-ship missile groups, along with the Naval Maritime Surveillance and Reconnaissance Command, said the source, who asked to remain anonymous. It could be launched by 2026, but details are being discussed and no final timetable has been announced, the source