In the fall of 2001, I was working the night shift as a member of a Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team (DMORT), part of the National Disaster Medical System (NDMS). Today, NDMS is administered by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services’ Administration for Strategic Preparedness and Response (ASPR), providing specialized federal personnel and capabilities to support communities during disasters and other emergencies.
My team had deployed to New York City to support the Office of Chief Medical Examiner in the painstaking work of identifying those lost in the September 11 attacks.
It was the middle of the night when we received word that a “Member of Service” was arriving. Anyone who was not busy went out to the street to form a line to receive the fallen firefighter or police officer.
As we gathered, a group of firefighters from one of the New York City Fire Department elite rescue companies arrived. They told us they had found some of their fallen brothers.
Soon, the ambulances pulled down the street. The firefighters transferred their brothers to gurneys to be moved into the medical examiner’s office. A flag covered each one as they were removed from the site. The firefighters folded the flags, by then covered with dirt and ash, and escorted the fallen into the building.
As the third stretcher was removed and placed on a gurney, one of the firefighters motioned to my co-worker and me and pointed to the flag. We stepped in and folded it, handing it back to them to be taken back to the site.
They thanked us for what we were doing and for taking care of the fallen.
It is one of many moments that will forever live in me.
I was assigned to the night shift over a two-week period. We worked mostly at the medical examiner’s office, though we visited the site — the “pile,” as responders called it — many times.
The size and scope of the disaster were overwhelming. Numerous cranes were operating. Ironworkers cut through twisted steel. Fires were still smoldering and burning as pockets opened up, even several weeks into the recovery.
Operations continued around the clock for months as teams worked to recover and identify those killed in the attacks. The work was difficult, but everyone remained focused on the mission. Friendships and bonds with teammates, staff, fellow responders, and volunteers made the work more bearable, and many of those bonds endure to this day.
Twenty-five years have passed since the attacks of September 11. I have deployed many times with my team since then, but moments like folding that flag have never left me.
Remember those who died that day. Remember, too, those who have died in the years since as a result of 9/11-related illnesses.
And remember the people who answer the call when disaster strikes — firefighters, law enforcement officers, EMS professionals, medical examiners and coroners, health care professionals, emergency managers, federal responders, and so many others.
DMORT members are among them. As part of NDMS and ASPR, they continue to stand ready to deploy when communities face the unimaginable — bringing specialized expertise to the difficult work of caring for the deceased, supporting identification, and helping return loved ones to their families.
For those of us who have served on these missions, that responsibility is more than a job. It is a promise to care for the fallen with dignity and respect, and to be ready when the call comes.
