9-11 Aftermath by a worker
Roy Robinson, who for most of his adult life was a military and commercial pilot, described the events following the 911 attack on the Twin Towers in great detail. He got to NY from a training site in Alabama with help from Avis since flights across the country were grounded. Cleanup and recovery operations were managed from the Park Ave Armory in mid-Manhattan (a very elegant place). They worked 12-hour days, with meetings in classrooms, hotels, and such, and he was involved in briefing soldiers about checkpoints and the mission of the day. St. John’s College, 3 miles north of “the pile,” was undamaged and served meals to workers 24/7. He described how work stopped whenever there was a hint of evidence of human remains. The fires kept burning until January of 2002, and workers always worried that the East River might break through and flood the site. He, like most of the workers, suffered from smoke and dust inhalation. He lost 1/3 to 1/2 of his lung function, but had nothing but praise for the VA.
