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CNN Live Today

Interview with Maj. Stephen Langford

Aired August 21, 2002 - 10:46   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: September 11 marked one of the darkest days in the nation's history, but it became, perhaps, America's finest hour as well. We saw unparalleled acts of human courage and compassion as people did whatever they could to help the nation recover from the tragedy. The Salvation Army was there at Ground Zero providing support services and hot meals to everyone in need. The group served its last meal at the site on the final day of recovery efforts.
Major Stephen Langford coordinated all Salvation Army services on site at Ground Zero, and he joins us now to talk more about the group's efforts -- thanks for joining us.

MAJ. STEPHEN LANGFORD, SALVATION ARMY: Thank you. Glad to be here.

WHITFIELD: When was the last time that you were at Ground Zero? On that very day?

LANGFORD: That last -- it was the closing ceremony, the last day I was at Ground Zero was for that.

WHITFIELD: And every day, whether it is from September 11 or perhaps that last recovery day effort, how often are you haunted by those initial images of your first time out at Ground Zero?

LANGFORD: Well, my office window looks right down to where the World Trade Center used to stand, and I have a blind that's been pulled since September 11, so I look at that blind every day, and I am thinking of what used to be down there, and I have a lot of thoughts about what happened on September 11.

WHITFIELD: And what are the images that come to mind in particular that perhaps, you know, may help you in your own recovery efforts?

LANGFORD: Well, one of the images that hit me at the very beginning was the fact that when I got down there, the first thing I thought of was a scripture verse, that says in Ephesians, the only thing that counts is faith expressing itself in love. And to see the faith -- not only a faith in God, but the faith in fellow man, the faith in our city, the faith in our country, those are the things that are the memories that are helping all of us, I think, to heal.

WHITFIELD: There have been so many images that all of us have seen and there are some that stand out or are much more indelible than others. With new pictures that seem to be emerging, whether in the form of print or even video, and more specifically, the videotape that was recently released involving one of your colleagues that is shot the day after, do you feel like that -- as often as you see these pictures, the pictures don't really say as much as what your personal experience was?

LANGFORD: No picture could really define personal experiences. My experience just the first day, being down there and walking in the ash and looking at newspapers and papers stuck in trees, and thinking of that huge, huge pile of debris, a picture can't really explain what was really going on down there, the faces of the rescue workers. Those are the images that stick with me, that pictures aren't really alive, and really can't show the emotion and the feeling that took place that day.

WHITFIELD: One experience that many survivors as well as many emergency workers experience was post-traumatic syndrome. Did you yourself feel like you struggled with that at any point?

LANGFORD: Yes, I did. There were points that -- things like at the 6-month anniversary, I found that I was having a very difficult time.

WHITFIELD: What were you experiencing specifically?

LANGFORD: A lot of emotion. I think because many of us involved in the initial experience didn't get a time to mourn, or a time to really think about our own emotions but were involved in helping others. That 6-month anniversary was a time that most of us -- myself, I had a real opportunity to look at how I was feeling, and it was very emotional.

WHITFIELD: So now -- now, as we embark upon that one-year mark then, how nervous are you that perhaps those feelings will return if indeed they ever left?

LANGFORD: There is some concern. One of the problems I had was dreams. I didn't really dream about the events and what I saw, but I dreamed about what my response was, how I was getting supplies that were needed and things like that. The dreams stopped, and then they came back at the 6-month anniversary. They came back at the closing ceremony.

So, I am wondering now, on the anniversary, if I will be affected by those again. So that is really one of the things that would -- had me a little anxious.

WHITFIELD: And where will you be on 9/11 this year?

LANGFORD: I will be at the Salvation Army, which is on 14th Street in Manhattan. I will also hope to be and plan to be at the pit at Ground Zero, and I hope to be able to have the privilege of accompanying families down into the pit, and offering any grief counseling or any support that I might be able to offer to them, and then in the afternoon, the Salvation Army is holding our own service at our Centennial Memorial Temple to honor all of our volunteers and also to give a chance for many of us to have some closure. WHITFIELD: All right. Thank you very much, Salvation Army Maj. Stephen Langford for joining us this afternoon.

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