Local officers, first-aiders join New York rescue effort

When they arrived, the fire was still burning and dangerous debris was still falling. The war zone-like landscape was something cameras simply couldn’t capture.

By: Brian Shappell
   Police and emergency workers from the township quickly joined the many in the area who volunteered to help rescuers working in New York City in the wake of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks that leveled the World Trade Center, damaged the Pentagon and killed thousands.
However, don’t call them heroes — these volunteers say that moniker needs to be saved for the fireman, police and union workers of New York City.
   "These guys are like zombies out there, tired and dirty, but they keep on working away," said Police Benevolent Association President Martin Conti, part of the second township contingent to go to the city. "The New York City cops, firemen and iron workers are the real heroes. We’re just guys that went up there to help when the danger was over."
   This first group of township police that went to Lower Manhattan along with officers from several county municipalities included six officers — Sgt. Thomas Glapion, Patrol Officer Leonard Hibbitts, Patrol Officer Jay Jairdullo, Sgt. Gary Luck, Officer Lazlo Nyitrai and Officer Kevin O’Brien. Many officers had to be turned away.
   "Every man and woman in this department volunteered, but the department could only send so many," said Sgt. Glapion.
   The officers arrived in New York just 12 hours after the first plane hit one of the Twin Towers.
   Officer Hibbitts said the level of quiet made the trip in on the ferry an eerie ride. As the officers approached "ground zero" the building was still burning, dangerous debris was still falling and shoes that people literally ran out of to get away from the collapsing building created a war zone-like landscape that cameras simply couldn’t capture.
   "It’s 1,000 times worse actually being there," Officer Hibbitts said.
   The officers were working at the site directing ambulances and aiding rescue workers from 10 p.m. to 4:30 a.m. and again from 8:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. The six policemen finally returned to South Brunswick at approximately 5 p.m., nearly 24 hours after they left to enter the city.
   "I was drained physically and emotionally," said Officer Hibbitts. "I slept for 12 hours when I got back."
   Seven additional police officers organized by the Police Benevolent Association joined officers from Plainsboro and East Brunswick in volunteer efforts on Sept. 13.
   The second group of officers from the township, which wished to remain anonymous, said Officer Conti, arrived in New York at approximately 4 a.m. and worked into the late-afternoon hours of Sept. 14.
   "It was as primitive as can be," Officer Conti. "It looked like a horror scene out of Universal Studios."
   The second group of officers arrived with needed supplies such as water and joined the debris-removal efforts along side their New York counterparts.
   Images that stuck out most for Officer Conti included the damage to buildings blocks away from the World Trade Center site as well as a makeshift, spray-painted sign that stated, "Morgue (with an arrow to the right), Trinity Place."
   Members of the Kendall Park and Monmouth Junction First Aid departments were also quick to assemble and respond to the catastrophe.
   Last week, volunteers were deployed to a staging area at the Meadowlands site in East Rutherford and, even, ground zero to aid police, fireman and rescue workers who were injured or had breathing problems from the smoke and ash. On Sept. 14, seven more were deployed to Liberty State Park to aid in the treatment of survivors or people thought to be caught on the Path Train.
   "There’s no glory in this. It’s what we’re trained to do," said Jim Cooper, one of the EMS workers that ended up nearest to the scene. "Thousands of people from the area have done it and touched someone’s life."
   As late as Monday, volunteer workers like Lori Sletta were leaving for New York to help in any way they could. Ms. Sletta said the hassles of tightened ID checks and problems getting into the city were worth it because of the camaraderie that was there.
   "Before you could even ask people if they needed anything, they were thanking you for doing things that allowed the New Yorkers to take care of their own."
   Ms. Sletta said the most vivid image of her day of volunteering was the way bodies were pulled from the wreckage. If a policeman was found, the fireman would move out of the way so the NYC police could form an honor guard for their fallen peer and vice versa if a fireman was found.
   "It was so moving to watch them recover those bodies and form an honor guard," Ms. Sletta said. "I don’t think I’ll ever experience that kind of compassion again."