New York City Council/NSCC Division Respond to 11 September Attack on WTC

By DAVID VERGUN, Production Editor

On 11 September, members of the New York City Council suddenly found themselves on the front lines of the terrorist attacks on America. The council has a permanent office in a U.S. Coast Guard building on the Battery, just 10 blocks south of the World Trade Center (WTC), with windows overlooking the WTC. When the first plane hit the WTC, council Executive Administrator Donald Sternberg was on the telephone with Council President Robert A. Ravitz. Sternberg told Ravitz what had happened, then saw the second crash and realized: (1) it had to be a planned terrorist attack; and (2) he should leave immediately.

The council's monthly luncheon, scheduled to be held that day in mid-town, was canceled, as were other routine council activities in the next several days. Nonetheless, the council responded quickly to the tragedy, donating money and gifts to the New York Police Department (NYPD) U.S. Navy Association and to the NYPD U.S. Marine Corps Association. Members of the two associations are former Sailors and Marines, or Navy or Marine Corps Reservists. A number of association members were killed during the emergency rescue and firefighting operations on 11 September in the WTC, according to Ravitz.

The council also sponsored a day-care center for Coast Guard Reservists who had been called to active duty at Fort Wadsworth on Staten Island, N.Y., where many of the staging preparations for the short- and long-term recovery operations were centered. Council members also donated a television set, a VCR, and toys to the day-care center.

The council also provided support--including extra clothing and other items that were in short supply--to the Navy hospital ship USNS Comfort, which had been immediately directed to proceed to the port of New York to assist in the recovery efforts.

Among the numerous unsung heroes who helped out in significant ways during and for a long time after the terrorist attacks were members of the Naval Sea Cadet Corps, particularly those of the Capodanno Division, which is "homeported" on Staten Island. Members of the division worked steadily for three consecutive weeks, including weekends, supporting the firemen, rescue teams, and rescue dogs who were staging out of Staten Island during the crisis and in the weeks thereafter. Most of the Cadets were working at Homeport Sullivan Pier, a former naval base that had been converted into a rest, recuperation, and staging area for the 24-hour-a-day, seven-days-per-week search-and-rescue effort.

Members of the NSCC's Liberty, Peterson, Seattle, and Stennis divisions--all of which are homeported in the greater New York City area--later joined the Capodanno Division Cadets in their support efforts. Rescue personnel--who were being shuttled by boat and van from the rubble of the WTC to Staten Island and then back--were greeted by the Cadets and their division officers. The Cadets helped serve meals at the Homeport Sullivan Pier, unloaded supplies, and even helped dog handlers train the rescue dogs. A poignant footnote: Many of the dogs had become frustrated because they are trained to find persons who are still alive, but the destruction of the two Trade Towers was so total the dogs were not finding any survivors. To help uplift their spirits--and, of greater importance, keep the dogs working--Cadets played the grim role of victims who had been buried beneath the rubble but were still living.

Lt. Cdr. Catherine Esposito, NSCC, commanding officer of the Capodanno Division, and other NSCC officers and instructors also were working 12 hours a day, and sometimes longer, for more than three weeks, to assist the firefighters, NYPD police, Reservists, and other personnel involved in the recovery effort. The adult leaders not only were supervising the Sea Cadets, but also were driving vans to and from lower Manhattan and helping rescue workers sift through the tons of debris brought to a landfill on Staten Island.

Despite the hard work, the lack of sleep, and the deep emotional impact on everyone so directly involved at Ground Zero, Ravitz said, the Sea Cadets and their adult leaders all expressed great pride at being able to help in so many ways. "The recovery effort is expected to continue for many additional months," he said, "so will be supported by Sea Cadets for a long time to come. They [the Cadets and the adult leaders] are truly among the real heroes that New York City discovered during this terrible tragedy."

A report on the activities of other NLUS councils who responded in numerous ways to the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, and to support Operation Enduring Freedom, will be included in the December issue of Sea Power.