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thedrifter
09-11-06, 08:14 AM
Article published Sep 11, 2006
Residents helped during aftermath of 9/11
By ALAINA FAHY
The Eagle-Gazette Staff
afahy@nncogannett.com

LANCASTER - It's been five years since tragedy struck America on Sept. 11.

It doesn't seem that long ago for many Americans, including Carol Sullivan.

Sullivan sat on her back porch after church watching as the planes hit the World Trade Center. The terror made her sign up immediately to volunteer to help with the relief efforts.

She was one of four local residents who traveled to help with the relief efforts as a result of Sept. 11, said Carol Freshour, American Red Cross of Fairfield County's emergency services director.

Volunteers have many lasting memories of their experiences. One of Freshour's memories is of a woman with her daughter in tow, walking into the family service center door.

"I remember seeing a woman with a little girl who was nicely dressed when I was volunteering in New York," Freshour said. "They walked into the service center, and the little girl asked, 'Mommy, are these people going to help us find daddy?' I remember a lot of stories like that."

Carol Freshour

Carol Freshour sat watching the morning news five years ago as an airplane crashed into the World Trade Center.

She, like many other people watching, thought it was nothing more than a terrible plane accident.

Then the second plane hit.

She knew then the planes had purposely hit the World Trade Center. She immediately called the American Red Cross of Fairfield County to be put on the list to volunteer with any relief efforts.

Her flight to New York didn't leave for a week because airplanes didn't fly immediately after the Sept. 11 attacks.

Freshour wasn't afraid of more attacks on the trip. She didn't even think twice about getting on the plane to help.

"My only thought was helping people," Freshour said. "That's what most volunteers thought about."

The American Red Cross helped thousands of people in 50 states and 62 countries during the tragedy. The Red Cross didn't only help victims injured in or around the World Trade Center. Volunteers also tried to help anyone who lost a family member or loved one.

The sound of bagpipes playing at the funerals of those lost in the tragedy filled the air nearly every day of the three weeks Freshour was in New York.

The Red Cross provides food, clothes and shelter to people who need it after a disaster.

Freshour and other volunteers wanted to do more for firefighters who used the shelter near ground zero, though.

Cots came made with comfortable, cotton sheets and were topped off with a candy mint for the firefighters, she said.

Meeting the New York firefighters many Americans consider heroes and helping families whose lives were forever changed five years ago is an experience Freshour says she'll never forget.

Freshour learned an important lesson from Sept. 11.

"It makes you think twice about life. You've got to make the most of each day," she said.

Carol Sullivan

Carol Sullivan knew by the time the second plane hit the World Trade Center that America was under attack.

She was on an airplane to New Jersey three days later. She was eager as a nurse to help families cope with the loss of loved ones.

Sullivan, a nurse for nearly 50 years, knew her skills could be used by volunteering for the Red Cross of Fairfield County.

"The first house we went to lost a breadwinner who was wealthy. The wife was left behind with a 2-year-old and a 2- or 3-month-old baby," Sullivan said.

"She didn't know what to do. She was stunned. We just hugged her. And she just held on and cried."

Sullivan volunteered because knew the United States was in trouble, and she wanted to do all she could to help.

It's not just an American's responsibility to help when there's a crisis, she said. It's everyone's responsibility to help a neighbor in need.

"Take care of each other, help each other, lend a hand. That's what we're supposed to do," she said.

Sullivan saw a change in America after the towers fell.

Some people from Lancaster think of New York City as a scary or dangerous place, Sullivan said.

It's not. She remembers waiting in line one morning preparing to pay for her breakfast. A man rushed in front of her to pay for her after seeing she was a Red Cross volunteer.

"I didn't even know him," she said. "He said it was all he could do to help. After that, I remember thinking, if we could just keep this feeling of being a brother to each other. Wouldn't it be a wonderful world?"

Darrell Wallace

Darrell Wallace, 35, Sugar Grove, is a paramedic for the Lancaster Fire Department and a Navy Reserve medic with Company L, 3rd Battalion, 25th Marine Division.

"I had just got off work on 9/11 and was working out in the gym when the news came over the television sets," Wallace said. "I was in disbelief. I knew a major world event had just occurred, and I also knew there were going to be major repercussions. I knew there was bound to be a large response to what had happened."

Wallace had served for more than a decade as a Navy corpsman. He often provided medical support to U.S. Marines in the field.

"Almost immediately we were told to be prepared to go at any time," Wallace said.

Wallace has a wife and teenage daughter.

He had a packed a duffle bag by the door and was ready to leave when his status changed.

His status changed in 2005.

He was deployed with Lima Company in January 2005 and returned in November.

By the time he returned, 24 of his military comrades had been killed.

Today he is back working at the firehouse saving lives in the city, and events of 9/11 impacted his life and his family's life in ways only military families can know.

But he wouldn't do anything differently.

"If I had any doubts about it, I wouldn't have put up my hand up 16 years ago and pledged to serve my country," Wallace said.

John Hilliard

John Hilliard, 51, Lancaster, was working on installing a new tornado siren on Ety Road the morning the planes hit the World Trade Center towers.

"We were getting calls from our office about planes crashing into buildings," Hilliard said. "We were up on the poles trying to install a warning device and couldn't stop until it was done."

Hilliard was superintendent of the Electrical Department at the time, and he had been a amateur radio operator for more than 30 years.

"I knew when we heard what all happened that it was going to mean a change in our lives," Hilliard said.

One of the big changes was Hilliard recommitted himself to his amateur radio, or HAM radio.

"People have these cell phones all over, but what happens when the cell phones and radios go down, like at the World Trade Center?" Hilliard said. "HAM radios are still the final line of communication we have with everyone else. I can communicate with just about everyone else in the world with the right radio."

Hilliard put hundreds of dollars worth of new equipment into his radio station and is active with a local radio club.

"I think we all have a responsibility to be prepared," Hilliard said. "What happens if the government comes out and says it needs you to stay in your homes for a couple of weeks or a month? Can we do it? I think that's the lesson of 9/11 - we need to be able to."

Ellie