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Craig Garber Sept 11th rescue and recovery
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- Dedham Ma
- United States
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- About Me
- Rescue and recovery unites citizen soldiers
By David Wallis
HOURS after the World Trade Center calamity, volunteering fulfilled a lifelong dream for Craig Garber, 25, a medic from Boston. In 1982 as a kid, he watched Air Florida Flight 90 plunge into the Potomac River.
"People jumped in ice-cold water to rescue people. I wanted to go and help, but I was a kid and couldn't do it.
"This is my opportunity. I'm an adult. I have the skills. I have the training, and people need me," he said.
Working non-stop at Ground Zero for four days - except for naps on the sidewalk - allowed Garber to ride the rollercoaster of his emotions. Despair one minute, euphoria the next.
"I had a lot of fear when I got here. It was very dark. You couldn't see anything in front of your face. You'd go up on the pile and there were burning embers of orange and red. The only light we had was from the fire… We were working and these buildings looked like they were going to fall down on top of us.
"We found a cadaver, and we spent an hour and a half trying to identify this person. It was an upper torso and the hips, and one leg. It was very, very distressing. It hurt.
"We tried to find additional body parts. We looked for a skull, teeth for the medical examiner, We couldn't find anything else. It was our honour and duty to take this person out of this chaotic mess.
"They didn't ask to be put there. But they're going to be buried in a real grave. We found a business card.
"An hour and half later, we pulled a police officer out of the rubble. He was buried up to his neck. He was alive and looked right in my eyes and joy overcame me. Everybody cheered. This is why I'm here. I'm here to save people."
- Interests
- Poetry - A tear falls in Manhattan
I am a tear. I am born. I fall from the sky. I land on the earth to
begin my life.
I am sterile. I am water. I am clear but EMPTY. What am
I here for? What is my purpose? I search for FULL-fullness.
My last memory is not pleasant. 9-11-01. I am over run by thick dry dirt, attempting to wipe out my existence. I have not yet had a chance to live. I feel pain. I am immobile. I must break free. I must live.
Part of me escapes, as a small and discolored drip. My progress is slowed. I am no longer whole.
A large part of who, and what I am, was left behind, trapped forever in the dirt, a constant reminder of my past experience in the darkness.
I find strength and once again move onward into the unknown, to live. To find purpose, with hope, I move on.
A gentle breeze blows. I feel myself moving. I hope in the right
direction.
The wind picks up. Unexpectedly I find myself soaring with
the wind and landing in a green meadow.
I have landed on the petal of a beautiful flower. My future was up in the air, though, now I am grounded. I am not whole, though I am at peace.
Will this be my purpose and my place in the world?
I look to the sky while a lark passes overhead.
I watch, in wonder and mystery at the gentle bird
soaring in the wind.
Craig A Garber
- Activities
- Poetry - Sept 11th 2002 The anniversary... I wrote this on Sept 11th 2002, looking upon the New York Skyline, a place where the Towers once stood. I look. I miss, I wonder, I hope... Flowers will Bloom again in Manhattan.
I see a distant elegance in a winter trees crystal frost though as I look I wonder what was lost. These ice glazed translucent and sparkling branches are certain to make you stop and stare though to me this tree is winter bare. I see a distant elegance in a winter trees crystal frost though as I look I wonder what was lost. I wonder what real beauty lies sleeping beneath the wintry snow? What colorful treasures in the warmth or the Spring Sun will grow? It's the intimate magnificent warmth of the Summer Cherry Blossom tree, which was lost I urn to see. A NEW DAY is Coming. Our hearts will heal, we will see beauty AGAIN. in our hearts lives and in the New York Skyline.
Craig A Garber
- Additional info about myself
- Poetry - A pearls cry
A tiny pearl rests at the bottom of the sea, far from the eyes of you and me. How precious and exquisite that tiny pearl. All alone, planted in its shimmering beauty, at the bottom of the sea. Never the less, a part of our world. For the sake of this precious and exquisite pearl, shimmering in its beauty for no one to see, stop where you stand take a moment to look around. Pay attention to what’s beautiful around you a sight or a sound. A tiny flower rests neglected at the end of your road. Surly there’s no reason for that tiny flower to be alone. If you neglect the tiny flower at the end of your road what chance would that tiny pearl ever have to be known.
Craig A Garber
- My Tibet
- Manhattan 911-01.
Where is the air? Where is the sky? Where is everyone? I came to save LIFE. WHY???? FEAR, ANGER, PAIN, SHOCK. OVERWHELMED!!!!
- My Books
- Loss - This my grayest morning I awake to an empty pallet. My brushes are hardened and my canvas is as lonely as I. My green and brown speckled eyes see no color this day, only the stark white reality of unpainted art, and the rapidly fading red of my ill-tainted heart. My multicolored morning rainbow has been replaced by singular black sorrow. Now she is gone my art is without vision and devoid of heart.
Craig A Garber
- My Music
- Guilt - I feel guilty for crumbling like the towers after 911. Should I stand tall in the spirit of the towers and for sake of loved ones lost. I feel weak though I find strength in you! I hope for a better tomorrow. Hope and Unity. Peace and Love.
- My Movies
- I am Craig Garber a September 11th rescue worker. I have referred here by someone who believes it’s a great resource for anyone reaching out for outreach. I was a 911 rescue and recovery worker. I could certainly use some emotional support. I have been through a great deal due to 911. I have both physical and emotional issues related to 911. I am currently disabled. There was a system setup after 911 to help the people who worked at ground zero on 911 and the following days and or months. The system failed me greatly and I lost everything. They say never forget 911. I cant it’s in my prayers nightly and often and dreams. I lost my health my dignity, almost my faith as well as my car, my motorcycle, my credit and my home. I was so sick after 911 I couldn’t work. I was in EMS and volunteered at ground zero on 911 and the following weeks. I also had a lucrative business that fell apart due to 911 related illnesses. I was treated horribly by the system setup to help us. The Red Cross once called me a liar and a fraud saying I was never at ground zero. They said this because I had no proof at the time. They actually said they would have me sued if I called for counseling or asked for financial support. I don’t know why this person treated me the way they did, but it was the straw that broke the horses back. I was deeply hurt by this treatment and had trouble even asking for help anywhere. When I did I was referred elsewhere by everyone. We can’t help try this. I had disability coverage on my motorcycle I had purchased in 1999. It was reposed. They said our insurance has no clause for terror attacks therefore can not cover my payments while I am sick and disabled as well as heart broken. My car followed, my credit, my home, my bank account, my business my hope. At one point I became homeless and was forced to stay in a shelter or on the street. Now, I have proof that I was at ground zero. I helped rescue Port Authority officer John McLaughlin on September 11th, I have pictures provided to me by NYPD photo unit. I found out later I was also in a video during that rescue and subsequent week trying to save life. I also have newspaper articles regarding my service. If I had proof directly following 911 I would have not been called a liar and a fraud and denied assistance. I guess I should have worn a nametag while on the pile. I now have nothing. I have been able to get a small apartment, but have no car, my motorcycle is gone despite disability coverage, my bank account is bare and my future is uncertain. I should have never had to undergo such horrible treatment after 911 when I needed it most. My 911 has never stopped affecting my life, past present and future. I felt like a failure and a burden, was made to feel like nothing by the very agencies that were supposed to help. I did my part and for that I lost 7 years of my life. I can’t recover without emotional support and some new friends. I have tried to be courageous and ask for help, but every place I call says sorry we can’t help. God Bless you and please share your stories and feelings about September 11th. My life was destroyed because I gave all of me on 911. No food no rest and no sleep I searched and searched for weeks trying to save life then trying to send victims home to there families to be buried. I cared and still care. I cared for others and need help with care for myself. No one else will do anything. I will try to have faith. Thank you. Craig Garber 911 rescue and recovery.
Craig A Garber
Craig Garber during search and rescue. September 11th 2001
Craig Garber Sept 11th rescue and recovery's Photos
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I am the Candle Flame
I am the candle flame for Tibet on high
My country stolen mountains in the sky
Valleys weep your clouds float on by
Freedom taken from me that’s why I cry
Oh mountain trails how I miss your track
My flame burns bright I want you back
Within my soul I yearn my eyes wet
Tibet you were my life ill not forget
Why did you come take my home away?
Even then you didn’t ask I had no say
You stole my heart my spirit all I had
Now here I burn my flame bright but sad
What did I do I ask the question why
For I grow weary to see my land for I die
Here I stand you smile look down on me
Ill fight for you till my death to set you free
So many years i've suffered silent in pain
How I yearn to touch your gentle soil again
To climb to yonder mountain peek above
Once more my spirit to feel of your love
Tony Robin Bulley 17th October 2008 ©
Vigil
Where are you now,with your palms together,
bowing,
your dark red robes
wrapping the wisdom
of a thousand years,
white knife peaks,
and over six thousand
monasteries?
Your home not your home
and yet your home always,
you wander,
you meditate,
you chant and pray;
you teach, you love,
or you stay
and must keep quiet.
Yet prayer flags still blow
in high Tibetan air,
prayer flags still blow
in the deep dark-eyed hearts
of your people.
There are places
the intruders,
the violators
cannot reach–
places alive with
the smiles and tears
of your lost land.
Red robed ones
with your calm eyes
upon the world,
you who pay homage
to the consciousness
in all things,
you who see far beyond
appearances:
you know past time,
you love past duality,
and yet you cry too.
The mountains of Tibet,
the vast plateaus and
green valleys,
the sky lakes and blue rivers,
the sons and daughters
of this sacred land
know and wait for you,
and for their time
within space and beyond
to be free.
© 1996 Layne Russell
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Madeleine Weber
for her design work
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namaste,
Kristen
Craig Garber wins Famous Poets Society poem of the year.