(Editors Note: This story was written in September of 2011, ten years after the tragic events of 9/11. Now on the 20th anniversary of that horrific day, I felt it was
important to share this story again.)
“I’ll never forget that powder, it was like grey talcum powder, it was everywhere, so deep that you couldn’t even tell where the street curb was, it was hard to breathe,” recalls Lieutenant Glenn Skolsky.
Lt. Skolsky was sitting at his desk at the Woodbridge Police Department when he heard the news that a small aircraft had crashed into the 1st tower of the World Trade Center, the day was September 11th, 2001.
“I went to the room at headquarters where there was one cable TV to find out what was happening as other officers gathered to do the same. I watched in disbelief as a second plane slammed into the second tower. I felt sick and knew at that moment that the magnitude of what had just happened was soon to unfold.”
Shortly after, the Middlesex County prosecutor’s office sent out an urgent request for volunteers to assembly a mutual aid force to go into New York. The Chief of Police at the time, Chief William Trenery, assembled nine volunteer officers, Lt. Skolsky along with Patrolman Mike DeCrosta, Patrolman Robert Kelly, Patrolman Tim Majek, Patrolman John Matty, Patrolman Jeff Olah, Detective Guy Olivieri, Lieutenant Herb Williams and Sergeant Rich Woods. The officers were told to “go home and pack your bags for 3-5 days”. The officers went home and did just that. They returned back to headquarters where a bus awaited to take them to the Fire Academy in Sayreville where Police from all over Middlesex County mustered together for assignments. As Lt. Skolsky stood there among fellow officers he did so under the bluest of skies on a picture perfect day not sure what to expect but knowing that whatever he was walking into was going to be bad and hoping that his 20 years as a police officer would be enough to prepare him for what he was about to encounter. But as we now know, it wasn’t.
The nine Woodbridge Police Officers were sent to Yankee Stadium on Staten Island where they had set up a collection point for the dead. From there they were ferried over to Battery Park where they assembled with Officers from all over under the Brooklyn Bridge.
“It was the eeriest feeling, like a scary movie as Police Officers walked towards Fulton Fish Market in complete silence. There were no cars, there were no trucks, there was no noise, just silence and powder in the air,” Lt. Skolsky explained as his strong face recalls the memory too well.
A high ranking NYC Police Chief gave assignments to the different squads and the nine police officers from Woodbridge were to secure the borders at Church Street, just a couple of blocks from where the Twin Towers once stood. Their assignment was to allow no one to pass the area except for emergency personnel.
As they stood watch, they took turns going back and forth to the pile of rubble that was once the World Trade Center to see what they could do to help or just to stand there among their fellow brothers as they all watched in horror of what the terrorist had done to America, the thought was more than anyone could bare. But that was their job, no matter how horrific it was, they were New York, New Jersey and Port Authority Police Officers who were there to help the people that were in those buildings because that’s what police officers do, it’s their job, and without thought or fear they do what they are trained to do.
Aside from taking turns going to the rubble, the nine men never split up, Lt. Skolsky explained, “I came here with 9 guys, and I’m going home with 9 guys.” Luckily the Woodbridge Police Officers did just that. Unfortunately, a combined total of 403 firemen, police officers, Port Authority Police, EMT’s and paramedics did not.
There are many things that stand out in Lt. Skolsky’s mind from that day. He remembers standing next to part of the engine from the airplane that hit the building. He remembers the sight of the overturned police cars that were shattered and tossed like matchbox cars from the impact of when the towers collapsed and again the powder that now piled upon them. He also remembers standing in front of St. Patrick’s Church staring into a once vibrant and bustling city that had now been silenced and blown apart around him. Not a man of strong religious beliefs, he found himself staring at St. Patrick’s Church, the only thing around him that was still intact, not a window broken or a door damaged; the only things that gave evidence of the days horror were the paper and clothing that now covered the trees that surrounded the church.
The nine officers stayed in the city for 2 days. Then, for a few months, NJ State PBA sent 2 golf carts and a trailer, along with police volunteers, to bring food, drinks and supplies to those who continued in the search and rescue effort. Several officers also went to Staten Island over the course of time to help sift through the debris for remains.
“I’m angry at the terrorists for what they did to so many innocent people, “Lt. Skolsky explains as he recalls the events of that day as if it were yesterday, “So many people just went to work to do their jobs that day, just like they had in the days prior to the attack. For no reason, innocent lives were ripped away from the people that loved them. Innocent rescue workers who went into a burning building to simply save the life of another human being and lost their own in a heroic effort because that’s what they do, that’s who they are, it just makes no sense.” Lt Skolsky explains to me that he doesn’t want to appear angry about it, but he is, just like many of us are.
“If this event has taught me anything it’s that I’m more aware of my surroundings and I have more patience for people that do security check in airports. I’ll wait in line, I don’t have a problem with that, they are doing a good job if I have to wait for them to search someone in front of me.” He also goes on to explain that, “it has also strengthened the respect I already had for my brother officers and firemen, who everyday continue to do what they do and do it to help those that they swear to “Honor and Protect”.
Since September 11, 2001, Lt. Skolsky had yet to go back to Ground Zero up until June of 2011. His daughter Samantha, 17, who lives in Arizona, came to visit her dad and wanted him to take her there. At the time he hadn’t realized that almost 10 years had already passed by and he had never taken the trip back. He wasn’t sure he could do it, wasn’t sure if he wanted to do it, but his daughter wanted to go and he wanted to be the one to go with her. They took the train in and it wasn’t until he got onto the PATH that it hit him. Once he got off the PATH he told his daughter he just needed to stand there for a moment, just needed to gather his thoughts before he went on. So Lt. Skolsky pulled himself together and walked back towards the place that forever had changed him. As he and his daughter walked towards Ground Zero he found himself standing at the exact place where he stood almost 10 years ago, St Patrick’s Church.
Lt. Skolsky and his daughter went inside the church that afternoon and looked at the memorabilia that was now displayed in honor of the victims of 9/11. The church still looked as it had on that dark day of September except now the trees that embraced it were green and full of life, a valid reminder that life had gone on around it, amongst the evil and the pain it stood strong and stayed intact, just as the police, firemen, rescue workers and all of America did that dark day of September, 2001.
