Sierra Vistan Jennifer Wojtanowski is seen in her home last week. Wojtanowski served in the New York Army National Guard on Sept. 11, 2001. She was activated to work security at Ground Zero, and she later served in Iraq. (By Mark Levy-Herald/Review)
Posted on 09/10/2006 12:38:24 PM PDT by SandRat
SIERRA VISTA — A lot of lives were changed that day.
Jennifer Wojtanowski’s was one of them. “You can watch 9-11 coverage on TV all you want, but until you are actually there, you have no idea what it’s really like,” Wojtanowski said of her experience at Ground Zero. “The smells, the sounds, the family members. It was just overwhelming.”
As a 19-year-old who had just gone through her initial military training, Wojtanowski was assigned to the New York Army National Guard’s 42nd Infantry Division at the time of the attacks.
Now, five years later, the 24-year-old vividly recalls the 60 days she spent at Ground Zero, as well as the impact the experience has had on her life.
“As soon as the attacks happened, I called my unit and asked, ‘Should I be worried?’ ”
When she was told “not yet,” Wojtanowski breathed a grateful sigh of relief and went onto work at her regular job.
But within hours she got the call. “You should be worried now.”
“I’ll never forget it. They told me I had three hours to pack a week’s worth of things and report to the armory,” she said. “I remember being really scared. I had no idea what I was walking into, how long I would be in New York City, or what to expect.”
At the time of Sept. 11, Wojtanowski had been with the Army National Guard for four months. Fresh out of high school, she had signed up for six years.
“My motivation for joining was college tuition,” Wojtanowski said. “I was born and raised in Buffalo, New York, and had never even been to New York City. I knew nothing about the Twin Towers, didn’t even know they existed. The Army, and that whole experience, completely changed my life.”
Wojtanowski’s family bid her a tearful farewell and she was off to New York City with her unit. They arrived in New York Harbor at midnight and were assigned to security at Ground Zero, where they reported for duty at 6 a.m.
“It was a shocking, devastating sight. A thick haze of ash hung over the city making huge skyscrapers almost invisible,” she said. “The smell of burning bodies is something I’ll never forget.”
She watched as rescue crews dug through huge mounds of metal and rubble, frantically searching for survivors. They worked for hours and hours, never taking breaks.
“If they thought they heard someone, they would blow a whistle and everything would go quiet so they could listen,” Wojtanowski said.
She remembers having to be stoic in front of the grief-stricken families.
“We weren’t allowed to cry in front of civilians. If we thought we were going to cry, we had to walk away so we couldn’t be seen.”
People searching for lost loved-ones pressed against the barriers and sobbed. They showed photos of the person, brought flowers and begged for information. They were desperate for answers, yet no one seemed to have any to offer.
“There were literally tons and tons of flowers, photos of missing people and fliers everywhere.”
Then the makeshift memorials started appearing.
Hour after hour rescuers hauled unrecognizable body parts to the morgue. At first it was shocking to watch, but then shock gave way to a kind of numbness. Security was tight. No photos. Only emergency responders and authorized personnel could go into the pit where rescue efforts were going on. Even the morgue was off limits.
“Families weren’t allowed into the morgue until a body could be identified. They would beg to be allowed into the morgue or closer to the pit, but we had to stop them.”
Wojtanowski rotated shifts with other National Guard members, working different locations around Ground Zero during the 60-day assignment. Their first week in New York City, they slept on a navy medical ship. After that, they slept on benches at Battery Park where their Command Center was set up.
“One thing that really stands out in my mind is how efficiently the emergency services responded,” Wojtanowski said. “The firefighters, the medical workers, the Red Cross, Salvation Army, police, every entity was right there, ready to help. It was impressive.”
In 2002, she returned to New York City with the National Guard and was assigned to subway security for three months.
Two years later, she was activated for Operation Iraqi Freedom. “I was in Fort Drum in upstate New York for 11 months, and then in January of 2005, I was on my way to Iraq. I was in Iraq for 11 months.”
While stationed at Fort Drum, she met Mike Cromer, who is now her fiancee. Not wanting to worry about long separations from her future husband, she decided to leave the Guard after fulfilling her six-year commitment.
“I’m much more patriotic now than I ever was before. 9-11 had a huge impact on me emotionally. I grew up a lot after that. I was only 19, but after 60 days at Ground Zero, I left there a much older, more mature person.”
Now enrolled at Cochise College, Wojtanowski plans to go through the school’s nursing program. She is currently employed at Horizon Moving Systems of Sierra Vista Inc., where she works as a move coordinator.
“Someday, I would like to go back to New York City and see it again, under better circumstances,” she said. “I’d like to see what they decide to do with Ground Zero. That would be interesting.”
HERALD/REVIEW reporter Dana Cole can be reached at 515-4618.
Getting the message across -- Some get it!
Bless her heart!
Wow what a great story....she will make a great nurse!
Nice Polish girl.
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