Standing at attention and saluting at a Forensic Site.
For twenty plus years I have thought of this one event but never put pen to paper.. I attended the Armed Forces Institute of Forensic Pathology’s weeklong dental forensics class back in 1999. At the time the US Government was starting DMORT (Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team)as a result of pressure from families in previous mass disasters when the families felt their loved ones were not being given the proper attention with respect to recovery and identification. I applied and after the requisite background checks was accepted into DMORT and went to the annual training in the Spring of 2001…. We go in when asked by a local coroner in disasters that overwhelm the local resources and work under them.
Still a newbie and never having been deployed, I watched in horror as the events of September 11, 2001, unfolded on TV that day. Within a hour of the first plane crash I received both an email and a phone call asking if I could deploy. My only question was, “Where to”?” The military had their own team detailed to the Pentagon and I was deployed to Western Pennsylvania where United Flight 93 had crashed after the passengers attempted to retake control of the aircraft. I spent eight days out there as my first deployment with DMORT. After coming home to catch up I my practice I was asked if I wanted to be part of the Dental ID Team in New York helping with World Trade Center identifications. While DMORT was deployed to New York, they worked hand in hand with those on the Dental ID team out of a trailer on the grounds of the Medical Examiner’s Office at 31st Street and 1st Avenue in Manhattan.
Approximately once a week from October to May 2002, I would take the train from Hamilton, NJ near my house to midtown Manhattan and walk to the Coroner’s office to work a shift with other members of the dental team. Using computerized forensic software, we were able to positively identify a great many of the victims of the disaster…..
Of all the time spent there, one day stands out in my memory. (Note- For privacy’s sake I am going to be intentionally vague on certain details to avoid anyone being able to know who I am discussing). I would often arrive half an hour before my shift began giving myself time in case the train was late or behind. That day as I approached the building at 6:30 in the morning, there was a crowd of police and firefighters which was unusual at that hour. That meant only one thing, an MOS had been recovered. The term ‘MOS” referred to “man of service” though it could be a female as well but it meant that either a police officer or a firefighter’s remains had been recovered and was being brought in. All the victims were treated the same but when an MOS was recovered, they were taken to the Coroner’s office with a police escort and a flag draped body bag. In addition, all in attendance stood at attention as the body passed. I never had the privilege or honor of serving in the military, so I took my cues from those around me as I too stood at attention and saluted as the body passed and was received by those in intake.
I had always tried to avoid looking at all those flyers posted by families listing their loved ones who were missing. I don’t know why but something inside me tried to avoid it…. On the wall inside the coroner’s office were newspaper clippings of the heroic actions of some of the officers who perished that day. Some were identified, some never recovered but if they were wearing their uniforms or coats it often had a name and was a starting point in the identification process…. On this day, from the name , we were able to get the ante-mortem dental records and made a positive identification with a comparison from the post mortem records. Word spread of the name of the identified officer and people pointed to some of the articles detailing this officer’s heroics and how they went back into the World Trade Center to render aid when they could have fled. On that same day there was another individual who was recovered (a civilian) and identified who also went back into the Towers to render first aid. Both perished that day and on the way home listening to the news on the radio, I heard them detail the identification of one of New York’s finest, the MOS from earlier that day….. Years later, during one of the 9/11 remembrances, I saw news articles on both of the individuals, and I read them, and it detailed their actions that day.
I have been deployed with DMORT for Katrina, and again in NYC for Covid-19 and helped identify others for my local coroner but those two heroes stand out all these years later…. For obvious reasons, I have never discussed it or mentioned their names, but my ears perk up when their names are mentioned, especially with the anniversary of 9/11 coming tomorrow..
