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Remembrances of a
Past Week
September 15, 2001 Update
Tuesday morning dawned as a beautiful late summer
day. The taxi picked me up at 6:00 am for a ride to Newark airport for
a day trip to Washington, D.C. for a business conference. The plane
was late leaving Newark and we took off at 8:35. I watched Manhattan
recede from my window as we flew south, with the World Trade Center
towers in my view.
We arrived in Washington at 9:15, and as we pulled into the gate, the
pilot came on the PA and announced that, "This would be one of those
days that we would always remember where we were, because two planes
had apparently been hijacked and flown into the World Trade Center".
He, and we, did not yet know the real truth of his statement.
In the terminal, we saw TV sets with shots of the burning Twin Towers.
We hurried to our meeting, which was at the National Association of
Broadcasters, thinking that we could get the full news there. As we
stood on the Metro platform at the airport station, we heard and felt
a huge explosion. It was an aircraft hitting the Pentagon, just 2 miles
North of where we were, although we did not know that at the time. As
we watched the smoke boil into the sky, a Metro train came into the
station with the conductor shouting that service was closed.
It was Tuesday night before I could establish communications with my
family, my Auxiliary staff and my friends, and Wednesday night before
I could get back to New York on Amtrak.
Thursday morning I met my crew at our boat, a 37-foot trawler, for the
trip from Liberty State Park (opposite Ground Zero on the New Jersey
side of NY Harbor) to CG Station New York. We spent the day at Station
with the other assigned Auxiliary facilities and returned early Friday
for another tour.
It was very strange to see a virtually empty harbor, where normally
a coxswain is kept busy ducking around tugs and barges, ferryboats and
ocean liners, and a normal slew of pleasure craft. On these days the
only view was of moored Cutters, and a number of Utility Boats (41's)
and RHI's maintaining the security zone from the Verrazano Bridge to
the George Washington Bridge, along with NYPD, Customs, State Police
and other law enforcement vessels of all sizes and shapes. An occasional
tug and barge or container ship or tanker would move, along with an
escort vessel.
There have been 10-14 Auxiliary vessels at Station New York each day
starting Tuesday morning, September 11, assigned on nominal 8-hour shifts
around the clock. Another 6-8 vessels are augmenting Station Sandy Hook.
The Auxiliary boats have performed a number of support functions, from
ferrying personnel out to the Cutters to carrying supplies and meals
to various sites and vessels, or performing PA or VIP missions. These
operations are being coordinated with Station and Activities New York
by the Operations staff, led by Bill Tooker, Pat Ermilio, Bob Swartz
and Bob Kingsley. Additional Auxiliary vessels are backfilling Stations
on Long Island and Connecticut, as the regular Station boats have been
re-assigned to duty in NY Harbor.
Auxiliary personnel are filling communications and watchstanding duties
at a number of stations, and the Auxiliary radio networks are up and
manned. Auxiliarists are filling other needed slots on a Station-by-Station
basis. Marine Safety personnel are standing watches at the County Emergency
Operations Center on Long Island and at several CG Stations.
Auxiliary aviation has been grounded for this past week, but will resume
flights this weekend. Several Auxiliarists are working as Ground Coordinators
for NYPD and USCG helicopter operations at Floyd Bennett Field in Brooklyn.
Personal recollections:
· Watching F-16's escort a commercial airliner into National Airport
in Washington, and then "peel off" right and left.
· The first sight of the NY skyline from our marina, where the view
of lower New York used to be magnificent, now with the Twin Towers like
missing teeth and the smoke still rising
· Watching a boatload of construction workers coming across the river
from Liberty State Park on what used to be the Financial Center Ferry,
hurrying to their rescue work
· The "smell of war" coming off Ground Zero on the morning wind
I wish to offer my condolences to all those who have lost friends or
family in this tragedy. And I want to convey my utmost respect to all
those who have helped their fellow man and their Nation at this time.
David
A. Elliot, DDO-OMS
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