By Lea Kahn, Staff Writer
School had only been in session for a few days, and police Sgt. Michael Yeh, who was assigned to be the school resource officer, was walking around Lawrence High School on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001.
Sgt. Yeh strolled into the main office at LHS around 9 a.m. There was some activity in the office, and the secretaries told him that one of the towers at the World Trade Center in New York City had just been struck by an airplane.
No one was sure whether it was an accident, but Sgt. Yeh said he knew immediately that it was not an accident. He had just flown through the area with a friend a few days earlier. Planes fly along the Hudson River north to the George Washington Bridge and then turn around and fly back down on the south side, he said.
”To run into the tower on a crystal clear day, I knew it was not an accident,” Sgt. Yeh said. His suspicions were confirmed when the second tower was struck a short time later.
And the police officer, who is a member of the New Jersey Task Force 1 Urban Search and Rescue team, also had a strong feeling the team was going to be called up. NJ-TF1 is an elite group of rescuers that searches for victims trapped inside buildings that have collapsed.
”Seeing what I saw and knowing what I know, I called NJ-TF1’s base (at Lakehurst Naval Air Station) and asked them if they were watching TV. They didn’t know anything about it. They hung up the phone, and I knew in my head that it would probably require our services,” Sgt. Yeh said.
Sgt. Yeh was right. A few minutes later, NJ-TF1 was mobilized and members assembled at Lakehurst Naval Air Station. By noon, the urban search and rescue unit was in New York City at Ground Zero.
And that’s where NJ-TF1 spent the next 10 days.
”When you heard that the towers had collapsed, I’m thinking that the top floors had collapsed. On the bus ride to New York City, people were saying that the towers were down on the ground,” he said.
”It made you sick. They were telling us that there were 20,000 people in the towers. They told us there were seven levels underground. We thought, ‘That’s a lot of surface rescue and then we would have to search below ground,’” he said.
The other scary part, Sgt. Yeh said, was that on the bus ride to New York City, team members learned military fighter jets had been assigned to patrol the city and that there were a number of missing civilian airplanes that possibly could be heading there.
The concern was heightened by reports of the jet that struck the Pentagon in Washington, and erroneous reports that other government buildings had been struck, Sgt. Yeh said.
Once the team arrived in Manhattan, the scene was chaos.
”One of the mental pictures that sticks with me, that stays with me and it was an uplifting thing was that as we were getting off the bus, there were business people in three-piece suits on top of the fire trucks, getting the debris off them,” Sgt. Yeh said.
”There were civilians on the fire department ladders that were set up against the buildings, trying to get the debris away so the trucks could be put back into service. I didn’t see any firefighters. It was a heart-wrenching sight to see civilians doing the best they could to help out,” he said.
The rescuers were soon joined by hundreds of construction workers, who brought their own heavy equipment to clear the debris. The construction workers saw what had happened, and they wanted to help, he said.
”It was the American spirit at that time of everybody doing what they could to help,” Sgt. Yeh said.
NJ-TF1 spent the next 10 days working 12-hour shifts, trying to clear away the rubble and searching for victims, he said. Initially, they were told to dig down to the fire engines because it was thought that the firefighters and civilians would have jumped into the trucks or underneath them for safety.
”We were standing on top of Fire Department of New York’s Ladder 10. I had a hard time wrapping my head around what I was looking at. Even being a (volunteer) firefighter and knowing very well what a fire truck looks like, I didn’t realize what it was until someone pointed out the pieces,” Sgt. Yeh said.
Nevertheless, the rescuers were confident they would find survivors. But as the days wore on, their confidence waned. Instead of survivors, they recovered numerous bodies, Sgt. Yeh said.
While it was disheartening to find bodies and not survivors, Sgt. Yeh said, there was satisfaction in bringing closure to the families of the victims whose bodies were recovered.
”Quite honestly, I felt it was a privilege to be there,” he said. “This is what we trained to do, and I felt privileged to be a part of the rescue effort. Within a day or two (after the incident), Ground Zero was fenced in. You needed a special pass to get in. Every emergency services person in the United States wanted to come here.”
Among the not-so-good memories, Sgt. Yeh said, was the look on the faces of the FDNY firefighters who knew they had lost many of their friends. But they continued to work to locate the missing civilians and firefighters, police and medical technicians who had responded.
And then there was the extent and the expanse of the devastation, he said. That is another mental picture that has stayed with him, he said, adding “you just don’t think you will (ever) respond to an event that is so devastating.”
Looking back from the vantage point of 10 years, Sgt. Yeh said, “you still think of the families that lost loved ones. You hope people don’t forget the people who lost family members.”
Sgt. Yeh said that as a veteran NJ-TF1 responder, he has always appreciated his family. The events of 9/11 reinforced the need to “slow down and smell the roses,” he said. His daughter was only one year old, and it certainly made him appreciate life so much more, he said.
”Don’t forget that American spirit after 9/11,” Sgt. Yeh said. “It was a time and a spirit that was very strong. I think it brought out the best in people. Ten years later, I think we need to look around the country and re-prioritize.”
”With that said, it’s a different world. Nobody wants to live a life that is purposely guarded. You can live life, but you have to understand there are extremists who will always target this country. Our Homeland Security officials continue to foil plots against civilians and this country.”
While time heals the wounds, he officer said, it is important to actively pursue the people who bring harm to Americans. He was said he was “very, very happy” when the Navy SEALS killed Osama bin Laden in May.
”I hope it brought closure to some of the families of the victims. It certain says, ‘We may not find you today, but we will get you.’ We will track down such an evil person and deal with him appropriately,” Sgt. Yeh said.
