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CNN Sunday Morning

Interview with Tom Faulkner

Aired April 07, 2002 - 11:39   ET

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

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN ANCHOR: Around-the-clock recovery work at Ground Zero. The buzz of activity you're seeing right now as it happens is all about to come to an end. Tons and tons of debris have been removed from the World Trade Center site. What's left there now is the area below street level. Workers will clear out the last of the debris below street level this coming week.

And as the recovery work comes to a close, hundreds of Ground Zero workers must come to terms that their once all-consuming task is about done. Reverend Tom Faulkner is a Red Cross Chaplain and has spent time at Ground Zero, and with a number of the crews who have been there. He joins us live from New York. Thanks for joining us this morning, Reverend.

REV. TOM FAULKNER, RED CROSS CHAPLAIN: Good morning, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: You know, I heard from one firefighter just in this past week who said, he's looking forward to the end. At the same time, he's dreading the end. What are some of the sentiments that you're hearing from the workers who have been working for months now at Ground Zero?

FAULKNER: I think he says it very well. The feeling is very bittersweet. On the one hand, this work will come to an end. It's been a heroic effort.

People just have given so much of themselves for months now to retrieve the remains of those who were killed and there's been something wondrous and sacred to that endeavor. You know, every time that a remain is found, it means there's the possibility of DNA testing, which means there's a possibility of a burial service, some closure for a family, rather than a memorial service.

That in itself is wondrous, and yet we realize that at sometime soon, the work will be over and there will be a sense of closure, a sense of sadness that no more remains can be found. As heroic as the effort has been, it will come to an end, and I think all of us are looking at that with a degree of uncertainty, what will that mean for us in terms of our lives after the closure of the site?

WHITFIELD: What were some of the words passed on to you from some of the workers there who almost felt some defeat because the remains of only about over 700 victims have been found of the more than 3,000? FAULKNER: The truth is, Fredricka, I've heard very little in the way of a feeling of defeat, and the reason is that, you know, remains are found every day and they will continue to be found until the very end. And sometimes the remains are as small as a tiny bone.

The firemen and the policemen, the construction workers, are remarkably good at seeing in a pile of debris that which is a human remain. You and I wouldn't notice that, but these people have been at this for so long that there is something that speaks of someone who, like themselves, had full life, you know, prior to 9/11.

I don't find sadness. I find a desire to continue to do the work, to continue to get the job done. That seems to be the conversations that most people have and certainly share with me and the other chaplains.

WHITFIELD: But then what about once this mission is done? Is there likely to be some sort of post traumatic stress that some workers may be feeling, a loss of usefulness so to speak, that they have done so much work and so much time over the past six months or so and then suddenly it all comes to a halt?

FAULKNER: There's no question but that some people will deal with those psychological issues. The fire department, the police department has been very good with their community service units in providing to people in uniform the backup that's needed. Of course, it's up to them as to whether or not they'll avail themselves of that. The Red Cross, all of us as chaplains, are trained to realize that we need to debrief, and we have debriefers that are available to us.

I think that the six months or the year after the closure of the site is a time that we are all going to have to be gathering and watching each other and being supportive of each other, helping each other to bring closure to what for us has been a most remarkable and sacred and demanding process, the work of being at Ground Zero, the work of being attentive to remains and clearing that site.

WHITFIELD: And, I don't want to, you know, dwell on the downside, so looking at the bright side, now that it is over, there are so many workers who can feel a sense of relief that they can try to move on and perhaps even concentrate on building, rebuilding their own lives and reconnecting with their families.

FAULKNER: There's no question. I should add here, however, that we're looking at the work continuing until the end of May, possibly the beginning of June. I think it's helpful as a visual to look at that as a bathtub. That's what we refer to the site as, because the bathtub has a base, a bottom. It's the granite of Manhattan, and the bathtub has four sides. This pit, this Ground Zero has four sides.

We will know when the work is ended when there is nothing in that bathtub, and it's projected now by the city and by the fire department that this work will continue for another month and a half, possibly two months, and the fire department and the police department, the construction workers who are doing this remarkable work of retrieval, will not leave until the job is entirely done. Let me say that what has held me up and what has given such sustenance to us as chaplains and to the workers is that in the midst of all of this death, we find ourselves affirming life, affirming our community with each other as we work together, talking about spending more time with family and friends, and re-prioritizing our lives.

This is not unusual. This often occurs when people deal with, you know, horrible things, when you're in front of a stainless steel table in the mortuary and there in front of you is a small bone fragment, reminding this that this was once a human being as full of life as we are. And we still have that life, and it's a combination of giving thanks for the person who has died, but then giving thanks to God that we still have the life that we can live.

So many of us will travel forward, being renewed in the purpose of what it means to be a human being and what it means to have the preciousness of life.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thank you very much, Reverend Tom Faulkner. Thanks for joining us this morning.

FAULKNER: It's a pleasure, Fredricka.

WHITFIELD: And I know so many people have thanked you for being there every step of the way over the course of the past six months plus. Thanks very much.

FAULKNER: My pleasure.

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