The fresh crews of firefighters line up two by two after three hours of sleep, call out their numbers and march back to what is left of the World Trade Center.
As they begin yet another shift of round-the-clock digging for the victims, who include 300 missing firefighters, their hope for a miraculous rescue grows weaker, but the resolve to continue is like iron.
PHOTO: AFP
"We've got to keep going. We've got to be American," said one man, who asked not be identified.
"They can get bitter, or they can get better," said Jack Poe, a Southern Baptist minister and a chaplain in the Oklahoma City Police Department, who came to offer counseling to the rescuers.
Poe said he felt a need to be in New York after helping to counsel workers clearing the rubble of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Office Building in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, where a 1995 bombing killed 168 people.
A retired New York firefighter sat on the hard concrete of a curb of the West Side Highway, just south of what the public refers to as "ground zero" and the rescue workers call "the pile," and looked grateful for his break.
Some of the dried muck covering his clothing flaked off onto the hot food and cold drink he had been given for dinner. He looked back at the jagged mess 100 yards behind him, but his stare was 10,000 miles away as he chewed his food slowly.
"New York has suffered so much of a loss you cannot imagine. Staying busy is the only way to make it tolerable," said Captain Bob Moody of the Montgomery County, Maryland, Fire Department.
Two hijacked commercial aircraft slammed into the 110-story twin towers during the morning rush hour on Tuesday, apparently killing thousands of people and destroying the complex in the heart of New York's financial district. Officials said 4,972 people were missing. Of 159 bodies recovered, 99 have been identified.
"You cannot appreciate the devastation and loss until you see it. We find bits and pieces of people. You keep hoping you'll come across a miraculous save. We are hopeful but not expecting much," Moody said.
There are bursts of adrenaline when the dogs from the K-9 search units pick up a scent, known as "making a hit."
K-9 unit officer Robert Schnelle, working with his dog, Atlas, said: "At this point, nobody is coming out alive. But we are still in search-and-rescue mode."
Schnelle said that Atlas seemed affected by his failure to find survivors but that his presence helped hearten rescuers. "Atlas is a little diversion. They like to pet the dog. It gives them a smile," he said.
Clean-up crews in the financial district worked as "America the Beautiful" blared from a third-floor window of the New York Federal Reserve building.
Wall Street, still full of remote power-generating systems, expects to be open for business today.
"Americans are from everywhere. We are mutts. But mutts are the smartest dogs, and everyone else is jealous of us," said Matt Horton, a corrections officer from Nassau County on Long Island.
DEFENDING DEMOCRACY: Taiwan shares the same values as those that fought in WWII, and nations must unite to halt the expansion of a new authoritarian bloc, Lai said The government yesterday held a commemoration ceremony for Victory in Europe (V-E) Day, joining the rest of the world for the first time to mark the anniversary of the end of World War II in Europe. Taiwan honoring V-E Day signifies “our growing connections with the international community,” President William Lai (賴清德) said at a reception in Taipei on the 80th anniversary of V-E Day. One of the major lessons of World War II is that “authoritarianism and aggression lead only to slaughter, tragedy and greater inequality,” Lai said. Even more importantly, the war also taught people that “those who cherish peace cannot
STEADFAST FRIEND: The bills encourage increased Taiwan-US engagement and address China’s distortion of UN Resolution 2758 to isolate Taiwan internationally The Presidential Office yesterday thanked the US House of Representatives for unanimously passing two Taiwan-related bills highlighting its solid support for Taiwan’s democracy and global participation, and for deepening bilateral relations. One of the bills, the Taiwan Assurance Implementation Act, requires the US Department of State to periodically review its guidelines for engagement with Taiwan, and report to the US Congress on the guidelines and plans to lift self-imposed limitations on US-Taiwan engagement. The other bill is the Taiwan International Solidarity Act, which clarifies that UN Resolution 2758 does not address the issue of the representation of Taiwan or its people in
Taiwanese Olympic badminton men’s doubles gold medalist Wang Chi-lin (王齊麟) and his new partner, Chiu Hsiang-chieh (邱相榤), clinched the men’s doubles title at the Yonex Taipei Open yesterday, becoming the second Taiwanese team to win a title in the tournament. Ranked 19th in the world, the Taiwanese duo defeated Kang Min-hyuk and Ki Dong-ju of South Korea 21-18, 21-15 in a pulsating 43-minute final to clinch their first doubles title after teaming up last year. Wang, the men’s doubles gold medalist at the 2020 and 2024 Olympics, partnered with Chiu in August last year after the retirement of his teammate Lee Yang
The Philippines yesterday criticized a “high-risk” maneuver by a Chinese vessel near the disputed Scarborough Shoal (Huangyan Island, 黃岩島) in a rare incident involving warships from the two navies. The Scarborough Shoal — a triangular chain of reefs and rocks in the contested South China Sea — has been a flash point between the countries since China seized it from the Philippines in 2012. Taiwan also claims the shoal. Monday’s encounter took place approximately 11.8 nautical miles (22km) southeast” of the Scarborough Shoal, the Philippine military said, during ongoing US-Philippine military exercises that Beijing has criticized as destabilizing. “The Chinese frigate BN 554 was
RSS