At least 25 Packet area families await word of loved ones

The horror of Tuesday’s tragedy hits home.

By: Jeff Milgram and Jennifer Potash
   After days of waiting anxiously and praying, at least 25 families in The Packet area have learned what they feared the most: Their loved ones and friends are missing in the wake of Tuesday’s terrorist attack on the World Trade Center in New York City — the opening salvo in what President George W. Bush called "a new kind of war."
   Among those confirmed missing are Andrew M. King and Frank Reisman, both of Princeton Township; John Ryan of West Windsor; and Bill Fallon of Rocky Hill.
   Among the known dead is William Feehan, 71, the first deputy fire commissioner of New York and the father of Bill Feehan of West Windsor.
   "My father was really past the time when he could have retired, but he was exactly where he wanted to be when he died," said Mr. Feehan. "He was doing what he wanted to do. It was the essence of who he was to be there."
   Mr. King, 41, worked as a broker at Cantor Fitzgerald, one of the nation’s biggest bond dealers, with offices on the 101st through 105th floors of the World Trade Center’s north tower.
   The family received a briefing Wednesday from Cantor Fitzgerald that most of the employees who had not yet been located were not expected to survive, according to his sister-in-law, Jackie Sezferra.
   "We’re trying to accept it," she said.
   Chicago-born, Mr. King has been a resident of the township for 10 years. He and his wife have three children, aged 14, 10 and 4.
   Mr. Reisman also is an employee of Cantor Fitzgerald. A family member reached at his residence confirmed he was missing and said she had no comment.
   The Rev. Leslie Smith of Trinity Church in Princeton said Mr. Reisman has a child at Johnson Park School.
   Mr. Ryan is the 45-year-old father of three. He was working as a stock trader with Keefe Bruyette & Woods, a securities company that advises banks on mergers, on the 85th floor of the World Trade Center’s south tower. A woman who did not identify herself at St. David the King Roman Catholic Church in West Windsor said the family did not wish to speak at this time.
   Keefe Bruyette said half of its 170 workers had not been accounted for.
   A family friend confirmed that Mr. Fallon is among the missing, but declined further comment. Mr. Fallon is an executive with the Port Authority of New York and Jersey.
   Montgomery police said at least one township resident was missing, but offered no further information.
   The total number of area residents who may have died in the disaster may not be known for some time.
   "Our youth choir is rehearsing upstairs right now," said Rev. David Davis of Nassau Presbyterian Church on Wednesday. "And maybe a third have friends whose parents are unaccounted for."
   Out-of-town relatives of Princeton residents are also feared lost.
   James Niven, the stepson-in-law of Trinity Church parishioner Lila Cruikshank, had moved toward the roof of the north tower after the first hijacked airliner hit the building, the Rev. Smith said.
   "He made a call saying the (rescue) helicopter should hurry," the Rev. Smith said.
   The Rev. Smith said Thursday that Mr. Niven had not been heard from since.
   Few area institutions escaped the impact of the terrorist attack.
   The relatives of 18 West Windsor-Plainsboro School District students and three faculty members were missing as of Thursday afternoon, school officials said. Three parents with children in the Johnson Park School in Princeton and one parent of a Princeton Day School student remained missing.
   Rabbi Dov Peretz Elkins said three members of the Jewish Center of Princeton are among the missing from the World Trade Center.
   "There is still hope," he said. "But with every passing hour it grows less and less."
   St. Paul Roman Catholic Church on Nassau Street counted three parishioners among the missing, said Monsignor Walter Nolan.
   In addition, there are a number of parishioners who have asked the church to include in prayers the names of family members and friends who are feared lost in the terrorist attack, Monsignor Nolan said.
   But the numbers don’t tell the whole story. There were also tales of amazing survival and selfless conduct.
   Area police, firefighters and emergency medical technicians rushed to staging areas in North Jersey and then were sent into a crippled lower Manhattan.
   The Medical Center at Princeton collected 189 pints of blood between Tuesday and 3 p.m. Thursday, spokeswoman Carol Norris said.
   And the community steamed into churches and synagogues to pray for the thousands of people who were injured or killed when terrorists hijacked four jet airliners and crashed two of them into the twin towers of the World Trade Center, the symbol of America’s financial power, and a third into the Pentagon, outside Washington, the symbol of America’s military might.
   The attacks on the World Trade Center came within 18 minutes of each other and the attack on the Pentagon about 30 minutes later.
   A fourth airliner crashed outside of Pittsburgh.
   Federal officials said a team of 12 to 25 terrorists were responsible and had also targeted the White House and Air Force One, the president’s plane.
   At least two interfaith services are planned for Sunday. Princeton University will hold a memorial service on Cannon Green at 3 p.m. and a candlelight community service will be held at 6:30 p.m. at Tiger Park in Palmer Square.
   While trying to maintain a normal routine most of the week, Princeton University canceled its opening football game Saturday against Lafayette. The NFL canceled its games Sunday and Monday, and no Major League Baseball games were expected to be played until Monday.
   Area schools offered crisis counseling to students who either had relatives who worked in New York City or who were anxious in general about the attack.
   Princeton Borough police officers Kevin Creegan and John Furyk and Detective Carol Raymond, all trained as EMTs, took medical supplies to hospitals in New York City.
   Princeton Township police officers Geoffrey Maurer and Kim Hodges and Princeton firemen Nate Mills and Harry Lemmerling escorted trucks carrying oxygen and other emergency supplies into lower Manhattan Tuesday night.
   "Heading toward New York, you could see the empty skyline and the whole pluming cloud of smoke trailing off. It was affecting the sunset," said Mr. Mills, a member of Mercer Engine Co. No. 3 on Witherspoon Street. ‘I’ve never seen so many fire trucks in one place. I was just very happy to be up there to offer what assistance I could. I wish that I could have done more."
   Firefighter Lemerling, who volunteered to return to New York to aid in the search and rescue, said he gets "choked up" whenever he thinks of fellow EMTs and firefighters who were trapped or killed.
   "What kills me the most is the thought of all those guys who went in there," he said. "It’s heart-wrenching."
   First aid squads sent personnel, including five members of the Princeton squad, and equipment to staging areas in North Jersey before they were sent into lower Manhattan.
   Princeton Township activated its Office of Emergency Management, and the American Red Cross of Central New Jersey in West Windsor activated its disaster-response team Tuesday and two emergency response vehicles were sent to assist in the relief effort.
   West Windsor Township sent 30 community representatives to the township Senior Center to provide support through the community, which is home to thousands of New York City commuters, township officials said.
   The township set up a support center at the Thomas R. Grover Middle School in West Windsor for students whose parents were either stranded or injured in New York City. None of the students required an overnight stay.
   Two clergymen were available at each of the district’s schools on Wednesday.
   On Tuesday, Princeton University held candlelight vigils and a "town meeting" to discuss the emotional and political aftermath of the terrorist attack.
   The thirst for news about the catastrophe was unquenchable. When not working, people remained glued to their television sets, watching the images of lower Manhattan with disbelief or listening to the news on radio. On Wednesday, it was virtually impossible to buy a daily newspaper in Princeton.
   William Boyle, an officer in Princeton University’s Department of Public Safety, said the smoke from the World Trade Center collapse could be seen from the roof of the university’s Fine Hall.
   The attacks forced the evacuation of lower Manhattan and the closure of all bridges and tunnels between New York and New Jersey. Rail service into New York did not resume until Wednesday.
   All air traffic was grounded. Princeton Airport in Montgomery Township was secured, Montgomery Township Administrator Donato Nieman said.
   The Medical Center at Princeton, which was placed on alert and was prepared to treat large number of patients, treated six patients from New York City for cuts, scrapes and eye injuries, spokeswoman Carol Norris said Wednesday. The patients, who were near the World Trade Center, came in on their own, Ms. Norris said.
   Area schools remained open, but after-school activities were canceled in the Princeton Regional and West Windsor-Plainsboro districts Tuesday. They resumed Wednesday.
   Princeton Regional schools were placed in a "lockdown," with students spending recess periods indoors. Only one entrance at each school was open and visitors had to be let in by a school official.
   West Windsor-Plainsboro and Montgomery school officials sent teachers on buses to make sure there was someone at home at the end of school and to counsel distraught children.
   President Bush was expected to tour lower Manhattan today. In a telephone call to New York City Mayor Rudolph Guiliani and New York Gov. George Pataki on Thursday, President Bush said, "My resolve is steady and strong about winning the war that has been declared on America. It’s a new kind of war."
   Rep. Rush Holt (D-12) and his staff were evacuated from the Capitol on Tuesday, said the congressman’s press secretary, Peter Yeager.
   A statement issued by Rep. Holt that afternoon said: "I am deeply saddened by today’s tragic events. My prayers and thoughts are with the families of victims and the heroic rescue workers involved in responding to this crisis. Today’s cowardly assault on the people of this country and on the values of our democracy should not go unpunished. The true strength and character of the American people will rise to meet today’s attack. Our democracy, and the freedom we hold sacred, will prevail."
   The American Iranian Council in Princeton condemned the terror attack.
   "AIC welcomes the Iranian government’s condemnation of this barbarous act, and it believes that now is the time for Iran to offer full cooperation to the United States in the effort to bring the perpetrators to justice," the council said in a prepared statement. "In the aftermath of this tragedy, we are also presented with an opportunity for the two nations to work together against terrorism and for the good of their people and humanity."
Staff writers David Campbell, Gwen Runkle and Steve Rauscher contributed to this story.