Immensity of WTC damage
makes strong impression
Manalapan officers
volunteered to aid
in NYC rescue effort
By dave benjamin
Staff Writer

Manalapan officers who volunteered their time to aid in the rescue efforts at the World Trade Center in the days after the Sept. 11 terrorist attack on New York City will never forget what they saw and did.

Manalapan officers who volunteered their effort, energy and time were Capt. Michael Rumola, Capt. Stuart Brown, Sgt. Kenneth Gibson, Sgt. Timothy Kirkland, Detective Sgt. Christopher Mar-sala, Detective Samuel Britton, Detective Robert Rushnak and patrolmen Gerald Bruno, David Castellani, Joseph Felicia, Mar-garet Freeman, Edward Hedden, Charles Mazzatto, Kevin Mc-Intosh, Joseph Moreto, Robert Pease, Kimberly Pujat, Eric Schmidt, Matthew Trembow, Robert Ceppaluni, Kevin Dobbin, Thomas Mantle, Kevin Ruditsky, Brian Cruse, Peter Curran, Robert Kelly, Edward Niesz and Paul Seetoo.

Niesz described the scene of the attack as devastating and said it was something that people would never expect to see in America.

"I was awestruck," he said. "The patriotism that was out there was something that I’ve never seen before. I don’t think there’s ever been anything like that."

Niesz said each Manalapan officer put in the equivalent of one full day of time.

"I was proud to be a member of this department and one of the officers who went out there," the patrolman said.

Seetoo echoed those comments, saying, "It was the most amazing thing that I’ve ever participated in. It was a nationwide effort and there was a sense of urgency to help rescue these people."

The officer said the mood at the spot that has come to be called ground zero was somber. There was an obvious feeling of love, brotherhood and sisterhood, he said, and all kinds of agencies lending their support.

"Anything you needed was there," Seetoo said. "There were medical supplies and food. There were people giving messages. Anything that would help in the effort was there and made available to you. That was amazing; the abundance of what was there to aid in the rescue."

Seetoo said the site itself was horrific.

"You’ve probably seen some of the pictures in the news," the officer said, "but the coverage in the news doesn’t give justice to what’s there and the magnitude of it. The smell is in the air. It’s still burning. We spent eight to 10 hours on the site in the bucket brigade, removing buckets of rubble. Then we were on top of the pile digging. I heard estimates that the pile is about five stories high."

Seetoo said the job could not be done with regular shovels.

"They have shovels there that were donated," he said, "but you can’t use them. The best tools for digging were the little hand trowels most people use for gardening. Most of the debris was removed by people on their hands and knees; grabbing handfuls of rubble and putting them in the buckets. That was the most efficient way to get things out."

Seetoo said while all of this was going on, the rescue workers tried to be as careful and as respectful as possible, recognizing that the site was a place where thousands of people had died.

Manalapan Police Chief John G. McCormack thanked the officers who participated. In a letter to those who volunteered he said, "My sincere and heartfelt thanks go to each one of you. Each officer put their own safety at high risk and unselfishly and courageously did all that was humanly possible in the recovery attempt to save others."

McCormack said he was deeply moved and extremely proud of each officer who went to New York City to assist at the World Trade Center site during the hours and days of critical need. He noted it was a dangerous and serious mission that each of the officers undertook to help in the search for survivors.

"Myself, the department and all who know each of you are deeply moved and forever grateful for your profound dedication and commitment to help those who are in need of help during this critical time," said McCormack. "Especially at Ground Zero,"

McCormack said Manalapan’s finest are heroes and called each officer an example of "what we Americans are."

The chief added, "When things and events were at their worst, you were all at your best."