Still Working on IDs, 9/11 Families Told
Still working on IDs, 9/11 families told
BY BILL EGBERTDAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
The city's chief medical examiner yesterday reaffirmed his pledge to continue the painstaking work of identifying victims of the World Trade Center attacks.
Chief Medical Examiner Charles Hirsch made the promise yesterday at an interfaith prayer service, which featured testimonials from grateful relatives of 9/11 victims.
It came a month after Hirsch said DNA identification of victims should be put on hold until better testing is possible.
"Our work continues," Hirsch told Jewish, Catholic, Protestant, Muslim and Buddhist worshipers at the Church of St. Francis of Assisi. "It may have paused, but ladies and gentlemen, we will never quit."
To date, 1,161 victims - 42% of the total - remain unaccounted for.
Gordon Haberman of Wisconsin, whose daughter, Andrea, was killed in the attack, recalled yesterday a moment from the Ground Zero memorial service on Sept. 11, 2003, when he recognized a member of the medical examiner's staff. Haberman saw him stoop down during the ceremony to pick up a handful of dirt and sift it through his fingers.
"It hit me like a shot," Haberman said, "that two years later, almost to the hour of my daughter's death, they were still searching."
Terry Strada, whose husband Thomas' remains have yet to be identified, thanked Hirsch and his staff nonetheless for the comfort their tireless efforts have given her.
"Even if Thomas is never found," Strada said, "I am at peace, because I know that all that can be done has been done to find him."
Christie Combs, whose husband Jeffery was aboard American Airlines Flight 11 when it struck the north tower, seemed to speak for other families when she stood to thank Hirsch for his work.
"You have created a bridge from the depths of hell to heaven's gate," Combs said, prompting the congregation to burst into applause. "And you have brought them home." Originally published on April 4, 2005
BY BILL EGBERTDAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
The city's chief medical examiner yesterday reaffirmed his pledge to continue the painstaking work of identifying victims of the World Trade Center attacks.
Chief Medical Examiner Charles Hirsch made the promise yesterday at an interfaith prayer service, which featured testimonials from grateful relatives of 9/11 victims.
It came a month after Hirsch said DNA identification of victims should be put on hold until better testing is possible.
"Our work continues," Hirsch told Jewish, Catholic, Protestant, Muslim and Buddhist worshipers at the Church of St. Francis of Assisi. "It may have paused, but ladies and gentlemen, we will never quit."
To date, 1,161 victims - 42% of the total - remain unaccounted for.
Gordon Haberman of Wisconsin, whose daughter, Andrea, was killed in the attack, recalled yesterday a moment from the Ground Zero memorial service on Sept. 11, 2003, when he recognized a member of the medical examiner's staff. Haberman saw him stoop down during the ceremony to pick up a handful of dirt and sift it through his fingers.
"It hit me like a shot," Haberman said, "that two years later, almost to the hour of my daughter's death, they were still searching."
Terry Strada, whose husband Thomas' remains have yet to be identified, thanked Hirsch and his staff nonetheless for the comfort their tireless efforts have given her.
"Even if Thomas is never found," Strada said, "I am at peace, because I know that all that can be done has been done to find him."
Christie Combs, whose husband Jeffery was aboard American Airlines Flight 11 when it struck the north tower, seemed to speak for other families when she stood to thank Hirsch for his work.
"You have created a bridge from the depths of hell to heaven's gate," Combs said, prompting the congregation to burst into applause. "And you have brought them home." Originally published on April 4, 2005
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