Wes Shifflett, Page County’s coordinator of fire and rescue services, shows off a citation commending the National Airport “C” Shift for its service following the Sep. 11, 2001, attack on the Pentagon. “You don’t realize how big things are until you get there and witness it in person,” Shifflett says of his experience following the Pentagon strike. (Photo by Justin Falls / DN-R)
He couldn’t gaze at the chaos unfolding on the screen for long. Shifflett knew he’d soon be in the middle of the rescue and recovery effort.
But the magnitude of the events taking place on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, wouldn’t sink in until he arrived at the Pentagon and saw the gaping hole with his own eyes.
“It’ll forever be ingrained in my mind,” Shifflett said. “You don’t realize how big things are until you get there and witness it in person.”
The Elkton resident, who at the time worked for the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority as a firefighter and paramedic, arrived in Arlington County late that morning. Five days would pass before he returned home.
Shifflett, 34, now emergency services coordinator for Page County, is one of a handful of current central Valley emergency responders who were at the Pentagon or ground zero in New York City on or in the days following the 9/11 attacks.
Smell Of Burning Metal
Some, like Shifflett, left the tranquility of the Valley to help assist amid the destruction and devastation.
For others, the attacks targeted their hometown.
Native New Yorker Michael Gulino, 35, now an officer with the Harrisonburg Police Department, worked for the New York Police Department when hijackers crashed two commercial airliners into the Twin Towers.
“There are things I’ll never forget,” Gulino said.
Like the posters plastered all around ground zero by people desperately trying to find missing loved ones. As the days drew on, it became apparent that most of the missing would not be found alive. They were buried amid the rubble.
The massive mountain of debris in Lower Manhattan made figuring out where to start the cleanup process daunting, recalled Gulino, who joined the HPD in 2007 after moving to the Valley to be closer to his wife’s family.
“You think it’s big on TV,” he said, “but when you see it up close, it’s amazing.”
Stephen Morris, a captain with the Harrisonburg Fire Department, traveled to New York five days after the attacks to aid his professional peers with the International Association of Firefighters.
He helped run a command post on the fringe of the activity. When Morris, 38, eventually traveled to ground zero, the smell of the smoldering ruins stuck out immediately.
“It was like you were in a metal shop with burning metal,” he said. “That hot metal smell is what really sticks in my head.”
‘You Have A Job To Do’
The drive from Elkton to Reagan National Airport, just across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., usually took about two hours for Shifflett. On Sept. 11, he arrived at the Pentagon, about a mile from the airport, in nearly half that time.
Traffic choked the westbound lanes of Interstate 66 as people fled Washington. Some feared another attack; others just wanted to get home to be close to family. But the highway heading into the nation’s capital was desolate on that clear, sunny morning, leaving Shifflett alone with radio reports of the attacks and his own thoughts.
“You’re hearing all of these bits and pieces. You’re saying prayers to yourself. You’re thinking I hope I make it back from this,” he said. “You have that sense of concern, but you know you have a job to do.”
The job at hand didn’t allow for much reflection until Shifflett returned home five days later.
Likewise, Gulino said the emotional impact finally caught up with him a few days later when he broke down in tears while watching TV coverage of the ruins.
Nearly 3,000 people died in the attacks, including more than 400 emergency responders.
Forever A Connection
Sept. 11 is a reminder of the inherent dangers fire and police crews face, responders say. For Shifflett, it’s made him cherish time with his family even more.
Beyond the pain, Morris still thinks back to the generosity displayed by the citizens in New York who couldn’t stop thanking responders or bringing them food.
“It makes you realize that even in the worst of times, we can overcome anything in America,” Morris said.
Gulino has returned to ground zero several times since 9/11. He’ll be working in Harrisonburg on the 10th anniversary, but the memories from that day — both those that ache and inspire — remain vivid.
“I’ll always have a connection to that location,” Gulino said.
Contact Doug Manners at 574-6293 or dmanners@dnronline.com
Leave Comment