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REMEMBERING 9-11:
Tribute to Father Mychal Judge
Just 'Doing Their Job'
The 69th Called Into Action (4-Part Series)
'Today We Stand Our Ground': 69th Marks Its 150th B'day
Zouaves, FDNY: Tragedy Renews Bond
Tipperary Native an Early FDNY Hero
NY Bard Pens Lament To FDNY's Fallen
Special WGT 9-11 Polls: Canonization for Mychal Judge? More.
Just 'Doing Their Job'
The 69th is called into action after the World Trade Center
attackPART 1 IN A FOUR-PART SERIES
69th New York veteran Vic Olney, the volunteer manager of
the 69th armory's Officers Club, observed the battalion's soldiers
last week as they returned from duty in and near "The Pit" created
by the collapse of the 110-story twin towers of Manhattan's World
Trade Center. Here's what he saw and heard.
GARRYOWEN FROM NYC!
Garryowen to all from Manhattan,
We are fine and thank all of you who sent messages asking if we
are OK and we thank you for your concern and your messages and
prayers.
TUESDAY [Sept. 11]
We live at 16th Street and 1st Avenue (Stuyvesant Oval) about 3
miles from the World Trade Center. I used to look out my home office
window and see the top of the North Tower of the World Trade Center
-- but no longer. Our neighborhood is sometimes called "bed pan
alley" because of the great number of hospitals, including Bellevue,
so the sound of sirens has been with us since 9 this morning. There
are convoys of as many as 15 ambulances, some from neighboring
States, rolling into the hospitals, including the big VA (Veterans
Administration Hospital) on 23rd Street.
| Quietly watching blazing TV
screens |
HOW TO HELP:
For the
latest on the needs of the organizations and individuals
involved in the rescue and recovery efforts, check TV station
NY1's WTC
SUPPORT, DONATIONS & VIGILS INFO Web
page. | My buddy Jack, who works 2
blocks away from the WTC [World Trade Center], walked to our place
covered with white soot so he took a shower here and got a new
shirt, then Barbara, Jack, our other friend Bob McKenna, and I went
to lunch at one of the neighborhood pubs, which was packed. People
quietly watching the blazing TV screens sipping a beer and looking
as dumbfounded and shocked as we four. Jack is bivouacking with us
as there is no train service.
Jack and I then went to the 69th Armory to help out as the
Fighting 69th has been activated, along with the 105th Infantry,
which is also located in our Armory. A few other Vets came in and
set up coffee and made sandwiches for the men -- our steady
volunteer Bob Davis already had the Officers Club open and he gave
out all the soda, water and snacks we had to the soldiers and had
the TV on. We put all the "other items" away as the bar itself will
be closed, as the men are on duty for I would guess at least a week.
 |
WGT Photo/Gerry Regan
A view of the Lexington Avenue (main) entrance of the
69th Regiment Armory on Sept. 13, the day it became the city's
command center for family and friends seeking missing
persons. | Some of the 69th and
N.Y. Guard Soldiers had independently reported to the WTC and helped
in recovering bodies -- they were easy to spot by looking at their
ash-covered boots, uniforms and faces. We were told some pretty
horrible stories of what it is like down there -- no war zone could
possibly look as bad, and the carnage is immense. At least 200 NYC
Firefighters and 90% of the whole day shift from the 1st Pct is
missing (65). [EDITOR'S NOTE: The count as of Sunday, 4 p.m. EDT,
was more than 300 firefighters and dozens of police officers
missing, among the more than 5,100 total missing and killed in the
terrorist attack on the World Trade Center.]
At about 9 PM, ... eight city buses rolled in front of the Armory
and the 105th and Company E of the 69th went out to assist in rescue
and recovery. The rest of the 69th is awaiting a mission, and it is
the guess that they will go in tomorrow to relieve some of the
workers in the gruesome search.
| An ex-serviceman, a former PFC, shows up
in uniform to help. | Bob Davis
volunteered to stay the night in the "O Club" -- serve water and
keep the Club open so the men can watch the latest on the TV and I
will go in early to relieve him.
The 69th Armory is locked down -- no one in nor out -- except for
the Soldiers and a few volunteers. They had to turn away so many who
just showed up to see if they could help in some way --
ex-servicemen (one former PFC in uniform), 69th Vets, Government
employees, soldiers from other Units who can't make it to their own
Armories and assembly points as Manhattan is now a real island --
closed down to traffic. I had planned to head down to our NJ (New
Jersey) residence tomorrow morning but I guess that is on hold as
the tunnels are closed.
 |
WGT Photo/Gerry Regan
"Last seen on 102nd fl of World Trade Center II. ..."
Flyers like this one in downtown Brooklyn turn up throughout
the city as family and friends attempt to learn the fate of
loved ones lost in the attacks. Click for a closer
view. | I don't have any answers
to the questions we all have and just pray that our rescue personnel
are able to save as many as possible. I feel mostly for the families
that are right now awaiting a phone call from a missing loved one. I
worked in Wall Street for 33 years and wonder how many of my old
friends are now gone. With 50,000 people in the WTC on any given day
I would guess that the toll will exceed many thousands.
WEDNESDAY [Sept. 12]
It is Wednesday afternoon and I have just returned to the 69th
Armory -- Bob Davis stayed overnight, and we are taking 12-hour
shifts -- not really doing much; giving out water, making ice,
emptying garbage bags and ash trays, lighting a cigarette for a
soldier, securing the O Club and staring at blank faces in
white-powdered uniforms who grab a bite to eat and fall asleep in
corners, on tables, in chairs and on cots and on anything with some
softness on the drill-shed floor. The TV blazes away with repetitive
stories and the sound is -- silence! No one talks; these young faces
have seen things that would make a Medical Examiner barf -- they
will rest for a while and rotate, the 69th relieved the 105th and
the 228th relieved them -- and this cycle will continue.
| Semi-awake soldiers give a little cheer
at news of a rescue. | A little
cheer and smile comes from those still semi-awake when the TV says
they have found a survivor. The silence returns -- no sirens, no
planes, no traffic, no phone ringing -- the streets have many
people, all walking slowly (some crying) -- shops are closed and
there are lines in front of the Supermarkets and food shops.
It is 1:30 PM and I have walked home to retrieve our messages,
have a sandwich and then return. The wind has shifted from the south
and the smell is pretty bad, so I will close the windows and turn on
the air; Barbara is at work at Baruch College -- right across the
Street from the 69th Armory, and she will come by after work but she
will have to get the guard mount come and get me as she will not be
allowed entrance. Military Security is tight.
The all-volunteer NY Guard has assembled and is on reserve status
awaiting a mission -- this is so monstrous an event that I am sure
they will get one as the rescuers cannot continue to work so hard
without rest time.
Over the next few days, I will hear many stories from our 69th,
NY Guard and Soldiers from other Units; the little ones I have heard
so far are horrific.
 |
WGT Photo/Gerry Regan
The wreckage of the World Trade Center smoldered for
days after terrorists crashed jetliners into its twin towers,
creating an acrid odor that New Yorkers will forever identify
with this immense tragedy. The towers were more than twice as
tall as any other building in the surviving skyline, shown
here from Brooklyn Height's
promenade. | I pray that the God
of us all is a just but vengeful God and that he will give this
President and our Military Forces the courage and fortitude to
deliver an everlasting blow to these enemies of humanity -- who hide
behind the cloak of religious zealism. It must be a response so
powerful and devastating that [it] will make all remember the words
of one of our greatest Presidents, Theodore Roosevelt (born right up
the street) who said "Walk softly, but carry a BIG stick!"
I am, as always, proud to be associated with the 69th (and all
our rescue and recovery people) -- these young Soldiers do not
consider this as more than doing their job. Thank God I am too old;
I don't think I would be able to view what they have seen and to
touch what they must pick up.
The rescue and recovery response is beyond comprehension. ...
They really have to hold groups back in Battery Park as only so many
can work at a time safely under such inhuman conditions.
Thanks again for all of you who have thought of us -- we are fine
-- we all know whom we must remember, pray for and honor. We will
probably be out of touch for a while -- we are fine.
It was only last week that I ended our e-mail with a "say thanks
to a soldier" note.
Vic and Barbara Olney
Part 2:
Looking for Miracles -- Wednesday Night, Sept. 12
Vic Olney, the proprietor of Tara Hall (http://www.fighting69th.com/),
is a veteran of the 69th New York, and is the volunteer manager of
the armory's Officers Club. Vic has graciously allowed WGT to
reproduce these dispatches, which he previously sent to all on Tara
Hall's e-mail update list. To subscribe to Tara Hall's list, e-mail
Vic at tarahall@earthlink.net. Vic
is also a major force behind behind the Friends of the Active
Battalion, 69th Infantry, which is open to all. For information,
check the Friends'
site.
MORE ON THE 69TH:
STILL
GOING STRONG AT 150
THE IRISH
AT FIRST MANASSAS
THE
69TH'S MICHAEL CORCORAN
UNDERSTANDING THE STRUGGLE TO COME:
Read Taliban by Ahmed Rashid for a look into a
world that remains largely closed to American eyes.
Does the man measure up to the myth? Find out when you read Bin Laden by Yossef Bodansky.
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