Ukrainians' efforts at ground zero: Providing aid in terrorism's wake (11/11/01)

Ukrainians' efforts at ground zero: Providing aid in terrorism's wake

by Andrew Nynka

PARSIPPANY, N.J. - The terrorist attacks of September 11 on New York City have been labeled by many as an event with global impact due to the ethnic and national diversity of its victims. They have also spurred the rescue efforts of a multi-ethnic community from the New York area and beyond.

Among those involved in the long and laborious process of recovery in the wake of the attacks on New York City, are Ukrainians, both from the United States and Canada, who are helping investigators as well as families of the thousands of victims.

Identifying the missing

Only one of a dozen or so expert forensic Canadian dentists in his field, Dr. Frank Stechey has been trained by the United States military, Armed Forces Institute of Pathology in Washington, the Federal Bureau of Investigations in Quantico, Va., and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Dr. Stechey is a dentist with a general family practice located in Hamilton, Ontario. However, due to his interest in forensic dentistry and close contacts with forensic associates in New York City, he volunteered and was later called upon to aid in the identification of New York's terrorist victims.

Dr. Stechey, a past president of the Ukrainian Professional Business Club in Hamilton and a member of the Holy Spirit Parish, has been involved in forensic dentistry for over 15 years in what he calls an interest pursued on the side of his career in family dentistry.

Due to the nature of the catastrophe, many of the victims can only be identified, if at all, through dental and DNA analysis. Dr. Stechey's role, working the midnight to 8 a.m. shift, but often starting by 10 p.m. the prior night and going to between 1 and 3 p.m. the next day, was to evaluate the dental records of those feared missing due to the terrorist attacks and compare them with the dental remains unearthed in the rubble.

After intense analysis and careful examination the forensic team could, relying on their expertise in the field, either rule out or positively identify a victim taken from the rubble with the name of a missing person - in the process bringing answers to families who've had only uncertainty since September 11.

Besides volunteering valuable time from his practice in Hamilton, Dr. Stechey also personally financed his flight to and stay in New York City. However, Dr. Stechey did receive the aid of the Salvation Army and the American Red Cross, which provided food and reduced-rate hotel accommodations during his stay.

While in New York Dr. Stechey received a gift, forwarded by the Salvation Army, which school children made in order to give volunteers a sense of respite in their often long hours of work. A young student from Richboro Junior High in Richboro, Pa., by the name of Megan wrapped a Twix candy bar in a handwritten note on a plain white piece of paper. The note read in part: "To whom it may concern: ... You and all the workers are very brave and so I must thank you. Your work must be extremely difficult. I would be pleased if you wrote back, but if you can't find the time, I understand. In my mind, you and all the workers are heroes. ..."

Commenting on the note, Dr. Stechey could only say: "I cried. I don't see how this person could consider me a hero. I do what I'm trained to do. I believe the heroes were the ones who first went into the towers as they came crashing down."

Dr. Stechey remembered that, "as the bodies of firefighters, police and other rescue workers were found at ground zero, they were escorted from the site in a flag-draped stretcher and placed into a waiting fire or police department ambulance vehicle, and escorted by motorcade with lights and sirens running to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner (OCME). All along the way, New Yorkers and all of the yellow cabbies would pull off to the side of the street in their cars and trucks and wait until the procession passed. People on the street would stand at attention, some with hands on their hearts, others crossing themselves in respect. The city would stop whatever it was doing until the entire procession passed."

"At the OCME," Dr. Stechey continued, "all state troopers and police officials stood at attention and saluted as the vehicle came to a stop. They would stand at attention until the body was brought into the compound for processing, they would then snap to 'at ease' and continue with their duties."

He commented on his own reaction to the process: "The complete and total act of respect is so stunning under the circumstances, it really impacted me in a very special way."

He continued, "The friendliness in New York is so strong you could almost put your hand out and touch it. People are now taking the time to talk to you. They will hold doors open for others; even elevators are held open until all are on board and a 'you're welcome' and a 'thank you' are now common salutations and acknowledgments."

Dr. Stechey said that since the attacks he has noticed a dramatic difference in the city's atmosphere and the personality of its residents. He now says that, given reason, he would seriously consider moving to New York - a thought that prior to September 11 was completely unthinkable to him.

Digging through the rubble

Assigned the duty of investigation at the World Trade Center, Special Agent Andrew Rakowsky of the U.S. Customs Drug Enforcement Administration Task Force, who is known in the Ukrainian community as an individual involved in the restoration of the Ukrainian American Cultural Foundation's Verkhovyna resort, spent two weeks working between 12- and 16-hour shifts sifting through the rubble in search of bodies buried when the Twin Towers collapsed.

Along with investigating the scene for evidence in the government's criminal probe, Mr. Rakowsky's work, which he admitted oftentimes was chaotic, included searching for pieces of the destroyed passenger planes that slammed into the towers on September 11. His task force was given the specific objective of securing 6 World Trade Center, also known as the Customs House - the storage complex for seized drugs, arms and other illegal contraband, along with evidence stored for use in future criminal cases. The Customs House, where Mr. Rakowsky had his office, was among the buildings damaged in the collapse of the WTC Towers; it is also where the Department of U.S. Customs stored its own weaponry and housed offices of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms along with the Secret Service.

"You're working shoulder-to-shoulder and elbow-to-elbow with these people," Mr. Rakowsky commented on his efforts at ground zero, and that takes an emotional toll. "Seeing the horror of the collapsed buildings day in and day out starts to desensitize you. You become a robot and you do your job with no complaints. Just like people are still doing now," he observed.

Mr. Rakowsky admits his most emotional moment came when he and his team pulled a dead fireman and Port Authority police officer out of the rubble. Mr. Rakowsky added, "It's a feeling for the victims and their families - a sadness knowing that these people won't come home."

Often digging by hand and aided by dogs trained in rescue and recovery work, Mr. Rakowsky noted the grim and often emotionally unsettling work his team had to endure. In the initial days after the incident, Mr. Rakowsky commented, the workers' hope was focused on the possibility of finding survivors. That hope has now shifted to a grim reality as recovery teams often find nothing more than body parts and what may possibly be the ashes of those incinerated when the impact of the passenger planes ignited jet fuel fires that reached temperatures of 2,000 degrees or more.

Mr. Rakowsky is now assigned to the FBI's anti-terrorist task force investigating the attacks and is working on Staten Island, where the rubble of what once was the World Trade Center is taken. Once in Staten Island the rubble is scrutinized and sifted by investigators desperately searching for further clues.

On November 15, Mr. Rakowsky noted, St. Patrick's Cathedral in New York City will host a memorial service in honor of all law enforcement, emergency medical technician and fire personnel affected by the September 11 terrorist attacks.

Calming troubled minds

As an active member of the Ukrainian community in New York City, Christine Gorski, a Canadian citizen, maintains her commitment to Ukrainian culture by way of Plast - a youth scouting organization, the St. George Ukrainian Catholic Church choir and the Ukrainian dance ensemble Syzokryli. However, Ms. Gorski devotes her professional life to providing counsel and therapy to patients suffering from addiction.

She holds a master's degree in psychological counseling from New York University and has been actively involved in counseling patients who, as a direct or indirect result of the September 11 attacks, have suffered from or shown signs of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).

Ms. Gorski explained that, as a result of the terrorist attacks on New York City, individuals may internalize how they deal with the emotional and psychological impact of a relatively stressful and traumatic event. According to Ms. Gorski, individuals who do so may find that, with time - in some cases as much as six months after the traumatic event - various symptoms may begin to surface. These symptoms are the possible beginnings of PTSD and can be obstacles in an individual's daily routine.

Such symptoms include: disassociation, anger, depression, aggression, hyper-arousal or hyper-vigilance, a constriction of feeling or detachment, and an intrusion of images or nightmares of the event. Although Ms. Gorski stresses that these are symptoms of post-traumatic stress, once they begin to hamper an individual's sleep patterns or ability to focus, or have a generally negative impact on a person, they become a disorder - PTSD.

Four days after the terrorist attacks Ms. Gorski took time away from her job to provide crisis counseling and information on PTSD at a local medical assistant and x-ray diagnostic school located at Union Square, which was designated as an ad hoc pro bono crisis counseling center for individuals showing signs of PTSD.

Due to the possibility of post-traumatic stress developing into a disorder, Ms. Gorski stressed that individuals who believe they may show signs of PTSD should consult a counselor who can provide assistance and comfort, and help restore normal functioning.

Ms. Gorski related that professionally she felt very strong, but emotionally found herself drained from the stories of loss and suffering shared throughout her volunteer efforts. Nonetheless, she said she felt satisfied that her patients were able to share their troubles. Ms. Gorski believes that the counseling she provided helped individuals cope. She underlined that the humanity of individuals banding together and helping each other cope and overcome such tragedy was a personal highlight in her volunteer efforts.

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