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Bringing the horror home
by Paul Teetor
After four vigils, hundreds of private conversations, and the daily drumbeat of dealing with all the ripple effects of the terror attacks for the last month, Mayor Walt Dougher thought he was emotionally numbed to the true horror of what happened 3,000 miles away.
But after he heard the eyewitness, firsthand account of the first days of the rescue and recovery effort from Capt. Tim O’Brien of the Manhattan Beach Fire Department — complete with up-close-and-personal slides on the big screen — the mayor was wiping away tears Tuesday night.
"After a month you can become a little detached from the horror of it, but for me, personally, I’m not doing as well as I was on the first day," a teary-eyed Dougher said moments after O’Brien completed his riveting presentation that had everyone in the city council chambers spellbound. "As far as I’m concerned, we have some of the finest public safety employees in the world."
O’Brien and firefighter Jeff Sanders left Manhattan Beach and were on a plane headed for Manhattan, New York within 48 hours of the attacks. And they were armed with a special weapon, a high-tech tool that had its own ironic place in the rescue effort.
The tool, called a Hi-Shear, is able to cut through steel and concrete within seconds. It was designed by a Torrance man, John Wenckus, who died aboard Flight 77 when it crashed into the World Trade Center.
The slide shots of the firefighters among the rubble — especially one of Sanders digging for bodies alongside some New York firemen — moved Mayor Dougher deeply.
"This was the first time I had seen any pictures from so close up," he said. "Most of the pictures you see on TV are taken from high up, but these pictures showed what a really awful mess it is, and how tough it must be to try to dig it all out."
Among the many changes that he senses in American culture post-Sept. 11, the mayor said, is a newfound respect and appreciation for firefighters and police. Many people have mentioned to him the horror of the New York Fire Department that lost 300 men in the attacks.
"I think we had come to take them for granted, as guys just doing a job like anybody else," he said. "Now they’re looked at as heroes, as human beings that are vulnerable and that are putting their lives on the line to protect us. People appreciate them much more now."
The mayor acknowledged that many residents are nervous about terror attacks and Manhattan’s proximity to LAX. He said the city is doing all it can to prepare for any attacks.
"But we can’t do it ourselves," he said. "We’ve learned from the ’92 riots and other events that you have to depend on a regional approach. It can be a potent force when all the towns and cities work together." ER