While former UNM student Timothy Lundin sat at his desk Monday morning, he couldn't shake the smell of dust, death, burning plastic and molten steel.
Lundin spent the weekend helping sort through the rubble that once was the World Trade Center, which was leveled a week ago by two commercial airplanes.
"When I first got there we tried nose plugs, but those didn't work, so you just had to focus and work despite the smell of 6,000 people you are trying get to," he said. "No one came out in one piece, and we've only recovered parts of 300 bodies, so it's really tough. The metal is still hot, so it's almost like you're in an oven. I've taken so many showers, but the scent just won't go away."
Lundin, who graduated from UNM in May of 2000, is an economist for Electronic Data Systems in Allentown, Pa. He is a former recovery officer for the Air Force, and traveled to New York City to help relief efforts because he knew city officials were looking for skilled volunteers.
The St. Louis native arrived at the wreckage at 4 a.m. Saturday morning and worked with firefighters, police officers and other volunteers for three to four hour shifts with 20 minute breaks. He slept for four hours that night, then worked another six on Sunday before driving home to go to work Monday morning.
"I know it's been said, but it was such a surreal experience," he said. "You're starting to see more aerial shots now that are beginning to do it justice, but what we were seeing before barely scratched the surface. It's like standing on the UNM campus and looking at the foothills of the Sandia Mountains - that's about as much detail as the media had been able to get. There's so much more devastation people just haven't seen."
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Aside from the strong smell, Lundin said he will never forget having to work around fires that suddenly flare up, seeing such devastation and the sounds of people clawing away at the wreckage.
"The hardest part is I feel like we barely made a dent," he said. "It's the equivalent of two airplanes taking out all of Downtown Albuquerque. I never thought I'd ever see anything like this. I worked on flood relief in the Air Force and we did rescue simulations, but that was nothing compared to this."
Dozens of crews worked in lines of several hundred people, passing empty buckets up to high points, filling them with debris and handing them back down the line.
"It was so strange hearing someone call `bucket,' because each person repeated it down the line," he said. "It was almost comforting and kept you focused to hear that all around you. It was the best team effort I've ever seen, but it was terrible when one person called out `body bag' because you heard it all the way down the line, passed the bag up and saw it on the way back down."
Lundin said that rescue workers were constantly reminded of the people who worked in the World Trade Center and were likely killed following the terrorist attack.
"We passed pagers down in the buckets that were still working and had the phone numbers you knew were from loved ones trying to reach people inside," he said. "In the areas that were once offices, you saw pictures of people's families. Part of you just wants to pack it all up and send it to the family, but at that you just have to focus and do your job."
As horrifying as his experience at ground zero was, Lundin said it was incredibly gratifying to see people just outside the crash site on 14th Street cheering for the rescue workers.
"New York City isn't the friendliest place in the world and most people there are in their own world, but it has changed so much since the attack," he said. "The same people who wouldn't give you the time of day now go out of their way to thank the volunteers. It was so uplifting and really is what pushes rescue workers to keep on working."
Lundin said that when the Salvation Army and Red Cross say they don't need more donations, they really mean it because the crews have an endless supply of water and homemade food. The rescue workers are provided with fresh blankets, cots to sleep on, showers and massages. Medical crews are on hand to help with physical or mental problems.
"The money will help the families and people should keep donating it, but the cards and letters rescue workers are getting from some people will last a lot longer and are great," he said. "If you send them to the New York City fire, police or mayor's offices, I'm sure it will get to workers. Nothing feels better after going through such a horrible experience than words of encouragement from strangers thanking you. It brings tears to our eyes."
The overwhelming support in the face of tragedy has convinced Lundin that New York City will rebuild on the site of the World Trade Center.
"These people refuse to give in," he said. "They won't ever let the terrorists know they've won. We'll be digging out of the wreckage in New York for several months and it will get harder, but I will go back next weekend and help in any way I can."
Lundin said the experience has taught him to have a greater appreciation for life.
"People have united amid the most awful circumstances, and I really have the utmost confidence in the human spirit, now more than ever," he said. "The time I spent there this weekend has really reinforced my belief in seizing the day. It has changed my life."
