Copyright © 2001 New York Times
excerpt from The New York Times, September 29, 2001
Slowly, Families Accept the Ruins as Burial Ground
For hundreds of volunteers, many struggling with roles changed from would-be rescuers to chroniclers of the dead, the real-life connection to those buried in the rubble has yielded a new sense of purpose.
"Every person doing recovery wishes they could do more for the families," said Dennis R. Castellano, a volunteer at the site since the first day. "But you are working for unknown faces, unknown people. Now there is a true connection. Now we know why we are doing this. It is not just for my heart, but someone with a face and a name."
Steven Rosenthal, executive director of Cross-Cultural Solutions, which was serving meals for workers at the site, said the procession of family members had been among the most powerful images associated with the disaster since the horror of September 11 itself.
"It is easy to work down there and just see it as a big pile of steel and a construction problem and forget that it is a grave for thousands of people," he said.
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