Photographs by Paul Myers
Los Gatos residents Greg Campbell (left) and Chris Delaossa are members of the local Urban Search and Rescue team that went to New York City following the terrorist attacks.
Los Gatans recall the sometimes grisly experience of working at Ground Zero
By Gloria I. Wang
Two Los Gatos residents journeyed to New York City soon after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks to aid emergency personnel with search and rescue efforts.
Firefighters all over the county had wanted to assist in the search, but Los Gatans Greg Campbell and Chris Delaossa were part of a federally funded urban search and rescue team. The 62-member California Task Force 3, based in Menlo Park, was in New York from Sept. 19 to Sept. 30. The team comprises doctors, K-9 units, structural engineers and firefighters.
Campbell and Delaossa are both firefighters in the Bay Area. Campbell, a paramedic captain from the San Mateo Fire Department, joined Task Force 3 seven years ago. Delaossa is with the Mountain View Fire Department and has been on the task force since May.
On the evening of Sept. 11, members of the task force got the news that they would probably have go to New York and immediately packed up all their gear and equipment. It took eight more days, however, until they were given the green light to proceed. According to Campbell, the reason was there was still a fear that terrorists would target San Francisco, and the search and rescue team would need to be available for that crisis.
Finally, the team left on the morning of Sept. 19 from Travis Air Force Base in Fairfield on a military jet. The team's first task, as it arrived at McGuire Air Force Base in New Jersey, was to put together an urban search and rescue team--Rapid Response Task Force 1--for New York City. The city had lost its own force when the members had rushed into Tower 1 after the first plane hit the building.
According to Delaossa, the California team was split in half. His group went to Fort Totten, a former site of military training, located in northeast Queens. Campbell's group stayed in midtown Manhattan, training at Javits Convention Center, approximately 20 minutes from Ground Zero. Although separated, both groups had similar missions, including obtaining rescue equipment--which had been lost in Tower 1--and training with New York officials. "We were part of the New York Fire Department, which was unheard of," Delaossa said.
After a few days, the entire task force went to work alongside New York firefighters at Ground Zero. On the bus en route to Ground Zero on the first day, Campbell says, rescuers were talking excitedly about the job before them. As soon as they caught a glimpse of the destruction, however, that all changed. "You could have heard a pin drop on the bus," Campbell said. "As far as you could see, as deep as you could see, there was just damage."
"When the building came down, it was like a blender," Delaossa said. "Everything became one ... I was praying that whoever perished in the Trade Center didn't feel any pain," Delaossa said.
Campbell worked the 12-hour day shift, and Delaossa did night duty. Workers on both shifts dug through rubble and cut girders to clear the rubble underneath. Occasionally, rescue workers would come across a void underground. When that happened, K-9 units and Hazardous Materials Safety (HAZMAT) workers would check the area first to make sure that it was safe.
Being there, especially at night, was "a little ominous," Delaossa said. "You shine a flashlight and you see a woman's high heels.... You don't know what you'll find around the corner."
The objective for all the rescue workers was to find bodies or body parts. Campbell says he had dreamed about bringing somebody out alive, but that all changed when he saw reality. Instead, rescuers tried to find anything that could identify a victim, including nametags and briefcases.
"[It was] pretty gross," Delaossa said. "We just encountered parts." At the same time, finding body parts was good because "somebody's family will know that their loved one was found," Delaossa found.
Spotting body parts was difficult, however, since the mixture of iron, metal, wire and paper was covered with a thick layer of dust. "There weren't too many things that were recognizable," Campbell said. Of the dust, Campbell says, people had written "united we stand" and "things about bin Laden that I can't repeat."
Rescuers had to wear masks to make their breathing easier and to shield them from the smell of concrete and smoke, among other things. "The longer you were out there, you could smell the bodies out there too," Campbell said.
Despite those horrors, Campbell says he tried hard to remain professional. "I can't say that I've been trained to go somewhere where 5,000 bodies are," Campbell said. "But it's not like I haven't seen dead bodies before."
When they weren't on shift, the team headed over to Javits Convention Center to rest. Their first night, team members slept on foam pads with their coats as blankets and pillows. On the second day, Random House Books passed out bags of amenities for the firefighters, including blankets, pillows, sheets, flip-flops for showering, journals and, of course, books. "Everybody was always trying to find us and give us something," Delaossa said. Even with the comforts, however, the rescuers found it hard to get enough sleep because of time constraints or distractions.
At Javits, there were telephones and laptop computers set up for the rescuers to call home, which Campbell did every single day. Delaossa says massage therapists, chiropractors and acupuncturists were available to serve the rescue workers at the end of the day. There was a makeshift dining area at Javits, and restaurants were constantly bringing food on-site.
Campbell says actors such as Susan Sarandon, Tim Robbins, Debra Winger and Danny Glover helped out with serving food. Tour de France champion Lance Armstrong stopped by to say hello and thank the rescuers.
Returning home on Sept. 30, the team flew on a commercial plane with the task force from Las Vegas. "I've never felt so good when the wheels hit the runway," Campbell said. "I would go back there in a heartbeat, but I was very happy."
When they landed in Moffett Field, the chiefs of all the represented fire departments were there to welcome the rescue workers home. They then drove to the Menlo Park Fire Station, where a crowd of about 300 family members and friends cheered them on.
Campbell says he had three days off from work, which he spent with his family, and then went back to work. Although he has been honored at a fire department employees' luncheon, an Oakland A's game and a short ceremony with Los Gatos Mayor Joe Pirzynski, he says he knows that he is just like everyone else.
"I didn't feel like I was a hero," Campbell said. "I was just doing something that I knew for sure that every firefighter all across the U.S. wanted to do."
Campbell, who grew up in Sunnyvale, moved to Los Gatos 14 years ago. He and his wife, Sherry, are active in the lives of their sons Ben, 11, and Brian, 8. Sherry is a stay-home mother, and Campbell coaches for the Union Little League and Los Gatos Soccer League.
Delaossa and his fiancée bought a house in Los Gatos three years ago. A Mountain View native, Delaossa said, "I've always loved Los Gatos.... You just feel like you're in the country." The couple use the Los Gatos Creek Trail on a regular basis to run, rollerblade and ride bicycles.
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