SAN DIEGO — Nearly 20 years after the tragedies of Sept. 11, 2001, many are looking back at the risks first responders took to save lives during the search and rescue efforts and the pain experienced by those who lost loved ones.
“[It was] very dynamic. A lot of emotion. A lot of brokenness of people that were there,” said Pastor Mickey Stonier.
He remembers the raw emotion and trauma experienced by families of the fallen during the aftermath of 9/11.
“People [had] that dramatic, horrific expression,” said Pastor Stonier. “It’s just overwhelming, the shock, despair, anger, frustration, all the mixed emotions.”
In 1999, he was recruited to be a member of the NTSB’s national airline disaster response team, which was comprised of about 100 chaplains and mental health professionals across the country. Pastor Stonier happened to be on-call for September of 2001, so he spent two weeks on the ground working with families and first responders at ground zero.
“When a firefighter or police officer was recovered and were lifted to where we were, the whole site would stop at the moment, it was completely silent,” reflected Pastor Stonier. “At that point, we were there to pray for the families and those gathered.”
Pastor Stonier is now the lead chaplain for the San Diego Fire-Rescue Department and he said firefighters and police serve our community with the same honor and passion he saw 20 years ago in New York City.
“They respond to 9/11 events every shift,” said Pastor Stonier. “The magnitude isn’t as big as the twin towers, but every home they go into, the rescues, it’s a 9/11 for that family.”
As he looked back 20 years later, Pastor Stonier recalled the unity felt on the ground at the time, and he hopes we can capture that feeling again.
“It would be good to go back in this 20-year remembrance,” said Pastor Stonier. “To go back to our first love where we love one another, our country, faith, family, friendships, and take time to remember. We still have our differences but we can still honor and love one another.”
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