FKA Staff Volunteers at Pentagon Following Terror Attacks
On September 11, 2001, the American Red Cross (ARC) dispatched hundreds of trained disaster personnel to New York City and Washington, D.C. in the wake of the terrorists' attacks. Disaster response responsibilities of the Red Cross include providing food and shelter, offering individual and family assistance, giving mental health support, providing public information and coordinating with other agencies. 1An integral part of the ARC Disaster Service's mission is to prepare for emergencies before they occur, and each year the Red Cross trains thousands of people as Disaster Action Team (DAT) workers, in order to provide consistent, quality services to people affected by disasters. 2DAT training typically involves a twelve-week-long course that teaches the skills necessary for understanding and taking part in a local or national disaster response effort. Courses provide instructions to participants on methods to provide food, clothing and shelter to disaster victims, required procedures for operating a shelter, as well as CPR and other life-saving skills.
Three of Frances Kernodle Associates' (FKA) employees were enrolled and attending DAT classes at a local Red Cross chapter, when the events of September 11 occurred. One FKA employee volunteered at the recovery site of the Pentagon soon after the terrorists' attacks:
“ I was surprised by the sheer numbers of DAT members. Hundreds of people had flown in from all over the U.S. to volunteer their time at the site of the Pentagon recovery effort, also known as Camp Unity. Throughout the course of my shift, I met people from all around the U.S., including retired people, students, professional business people, and military personnel. All kinds of foodstuffs and goods had been donated to the relief effort by the private sector, individuals and communities: from dog food and protective “shoes” for the search and rescue dogs to work boots and sunglasses for the emergency workers. The workers and volunteers had ample supplies for almost every aspect of the recovery operation. The relief site gave one a sense of a “carnival” scene,” in that the parking lot of the Pentagon was covered with tents — some tents provided places to rest and eat, while, others provided places to store supplies and food — while in other tents, organizations such as the Southern Baptists, Salvation Army, MacDonald's and Outback Steakhouse were providing and preparing food constantly.
Toward the end of my shift, I was assigned to work at a memorial service directly in front of the crash site for the family members of the victims. We were assigned to provide snacks, drinks and tissues for the attendees. The event was purposefully hidden from the view of media cameras. It is very difficult to witness people vocally and visibly expressing such emotional pain and anger.
In general, the overall atmosphere of the recovery effort at Camp Unity underscored the sense of partnership, concord, and gratitude in addition to sadness, anger and exhaustion. Despite the circumstances that had brought these people together, a mural, which hung on a fence near the site, signified the overall outpouring of human spirit — thousands of volunteers and workers had signed the mural and written messages of patriotism and support, and had left small tokens of bereavement.” — Brooke Lord, Frances Kernodle Associates Research Analyst, reporting on the American Red Cross efforts at the Pentagon on September 22, 2001.
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