Anger, sadness among range of emotions

The sentiments expressed in East Windsor and Hightstown were no different than those heard around the nation following Tuesday’s attacks.

By: T.J. Furman and Scott Morgan
   Local reaction to Tuesday’s terrorist attacks in New York City and Washington, D.C., echoed the sentiments many Americans feel in the tragedy’s aftermath.
   Feelings of anger, horror and sadness are deeply connected to feelings of support for President George W. Bush and prayers for the families, friends and colleagues of the attacks’ victims.


America attacked:

• Two township residents feared dead (Sept. 13, 2001)

• Terror’s shockwaves felt locally (Sept. 14, 2001)

• Anger, sadness among range of emotions (Sept. 14, 2001)

• Area ministry, schools respond to grief-stricken (Sept. 14, 2001)

• Terrorists ask for war (Sept. 14, 2001)

• Helping children cope with disaster (Sept. 14, 2001)

• Terror attacks claim at least six local residents (Sept. 21, 2001)

• Building a garden to remember (Sept. 21, 2001)

• Former Hightstown man hero of Flight 93 (Sept. 21, 2001)

• Township Council to eye memorial (Sept. 21, 2001)

• Priest’s painting inspires parishoners (Sept. 21, 2001)

• Area Muslims condemn attacks (Sept. 21, 2001)

• Tragedy forces new sense of perspective (Sept. 21, 2001)

• Children want to help, too (Sept. 21, 2001)


   Throughout the area, residents spoke of shock and disbelief.
   Dan Barkow experienced perhaps one of the most devastating losses imagineable — his wife of less than one year, Colleen Barkow, 26, is presumed dead. She was working on the 103rd floor of the first tower struck Tuesday morning.
   His feelings of shock and rage are strong.
   "For everyone that has been killed here, we should kill 10 of them," he said. "Anyone that has harbored these people should be killed and then we can rebuild the world from there. This (shouldn’t be) pussy-footing around like it has been for the last 10 years."
   "I was shocked, of course I was shocked," said Leroy Betsey, a new resident to Hightstown. Mr. Betsey was taking a morning walk up Ward Street when he first heard the news that a passenger jet had slammed into one of the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers. The details were vague at first, and he said he almost was not sure he had really heard correctly.
   But he had.
   "It reminds you of movies, of a fiction-type thing," he said.
   Millicent Sturm, who remembers Orson Welles’ infamous "War of the Worlds" radio broadcast in 1938, said she first heard news of the attack over the radio. At first, it sounded as unbelievable as the Martians landing at Grover’s Mill. But her television quickly filled her with a sense of horror when she realized it was not just a radio play.
   Vincent Buttitta, a retired PSE&G worker from South Brunswick, shared Ms. Sturm’s sense of horror, but was quick to voice his support for the president and the nation.
   "Whatever this country does, whatever it takes, is OK by me," Mr. Buttitta said. "Whoever did this to us had no right to do this. And it’s not only us, it’s the whole free world."
   Bob Brogus of Cranbury, Robert Coon of Point Pleasant and Sam Benanti of North Brunswick, all retired PSE&G workers who meet with Mr. Buttitta once a month at the Court Jester restaurant on Mercer Street, agreed with their friend’s sentiments. All advocated taking the time to find out who is behind the attacks before the United States takes any major actions. But, they quickly added, they want the responsible party brought to immediate justice.
   "I don’t want to see any long court battles," Mr. Coon said. "If you get him and can prove it’s him, you should put him away for six lifetimes."
   Borough Councilman Bob Patten was not directly affected by the tragedy, but he reflected deeply on the mood of both the East Windsor-Hightstown area and the global community.
   Mr. Patten said family members living as far away as Denver and friends living in England have called him to express their shock and sorrow.
   "The mood is just so sad," he said. "This has just affected everybody."
   One common reference point in the midst of the tragedy is the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941. The similarities are eerie. The picture-perfect day, the surprise, the shaking of the national confidence. And the devastation.
   Fred Tornquist, a borough resident who served in the Navy during World War II, said the feelings of aggravation and shock are the same as they were in December 1941. But now, the enemy has changed — only this time the United States does not know who the enemy is.
   "Terrorists hit and run and they hide," he said. "There’s really no way to defend against them."
   But, Mr. Tornquist said, he would not hesitate to answer the call to service if he were 20 years old again.
   Elsewhere, people found it difficult simply getting back to a normal day of work. Lydia Santoni-Lawrence of Hightstown’s Community Action Service Center said, "It’s hard to wrap my brain around this. I still feel shaken up."
   She said she feels life should not pick up so quickly, that even small tasks somehow seem "vulgar" in the wake of such a tragedy. But there was a sense of hope from Ms. Santoni-Lawrence as well. She said she reviewed a video taken this past summer that featured children of all types and colors playing happily with each other.
   "It seems weird to know something is going to happen (in retaliation for the attacks)," she said. "(But) it feels good to see the children take each other at face value."
   Ms. Santoni-Lawrence said the center is open for anyone who feels the need to talk to someone about the tragedy.
   There was a unanimous feeling that the responsible party will be found and punished. Such optimism, taken alongside deep feelings of shock and disbelief, has given residents a reason to reflect, as well as a reason to hope.
   "When a thing like this happens, people get together and pitch in to help," Mr. Tornquist said. "This country is much too powerful and too intelligent to let this overwhelm them."