It’s been 25 years but feels like not long ago at all.
The late Dr. Sam Gladding and I were asked by the Disaster Mental Health section of the American Red Cross to help develop the death certificate process in New York City right after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks. This process was necessary because a death certificate is typically not provided without a body. No death certificate means no insurance benefits or other monies for the families of the deceased.
At the pile, to become known as “Ground Zero,” there were no bodies. Office furniture, drywall, computers, and people were mixed with an avalanche of concrete and steel from 10 million square feet of vertical office space — a 110-story skyscraper and its identical twin — a scene of total and absolute destruction.
In addition to the constant loop of Ground Zero shown on CNN and the continuous smoke that lasted until December of that year, numerous peripheral buildings were destroyed or damaged, including the 48-story Building 7.