Ground zero ‘was reverent’

MARION - No photo could capture the emotional power of ground zero in the days immediately following the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Margaret Melchert said there's no way to describe how the gray haze would waft through the rubble.

“It almost had a life of its own,” said Melchert, 79, of Marion. “You couldn't see it in pictures. The smoke - I'll never forget how it would puff out of there.”

And it was quiet, for the most part.

“It was reverent,” she said, “but if a rescue worker came out, then the cheers went up.”

Melchert, who has volunteered at dozens of disasters through the American Red Cross, arrived in New York City just a few days after the attacks and spent the next three weeks working 12-hour shifts to help victims looking for family members, food, financial aid or emotional support.

In her journal, Melchert captured the heartbreaking stories of hundreds who crossed her path during that time. There was the fireman who, through his tears, shared that he went down with the towers and - as he tried to save himself - felt that he was walking on top of bodies.

There was the mother with twin daughters, one of whom was missing in the attacks. The mother and the twin's sister came to Melchert looking for the young woman, hoping she would be found in one of the shops - maybe in the candy store - that once thrived under the devastated towers.

“I told her, ‘I hope your sister comes out of there, and her face is full of pimples,' ” Melchert said, making a reference to the candy store. “She laughed, but that didn't happen.”

Melchert returned to New York three times in the weeks and months after the attacks to help victims - in some cases, just by listening to their stories and offering emotional support.

“There were hundreds of stories,” she said. “They all ended tragically.”

Sept. 11 stands out from the other disasters Melchert has assisted with, because it was not caused by an act of nature.

“It was an act of hate,” she said. “It's a lot different, the feelings you have. … That is hard to deal with.”

The kindness that emerged - the gratitude she and her colleagues received and the overwhelming flood of volunteers to New York - will stay with Melchert forever, she said.

“They were stopping and thanking us all the time,” she said.