Sunday, September 21, 2003
Disasters often bring out best in people
SANDRA FREDERICK
STAFF WRITER
DAYTONA BEACH — Tragedy often brings out the best in people. Time and time again, Americans prove they are willing to chip in and help when a national disaster happens.
After Sept. 11, 2001, millions of dollars were donated to charities, such as the American Red Cross, to give immediate help to families of victims and to set up college funds for their children.
And following hurricanes, tornadoes and wildfires, it´s not unusual for blood banks to see a spike in the number of people walking in off the streets to give blood. Or for truckloads of water, food, blankets and clothes to be sent to the affected areas, even when those needing help are strangers. I am sure we also will see it following Isabel.
Last week, I had the opportunity to walk through the facility that housed the debris following the Feb. 1 explosion of space shuttle Columbia. Parts of all sizes were sectioned off according to their location on the shuttle - tires, landing gear, hatches and even window frames. It was hard to believe they were part of Columbia. It was like an 84,300-piece puzzle with more than 100,000 pieces still missing. Only 38 percent of the shuttle actually was found.
The horrific event unfolded over and over across television screens the day of the accident and for weeks to come. It still sends shivers down my spine.
The afternoon the multinational mission lifted off to space to perform scientific experiments in a no-gravity setting, I was at Kennedy Space Center to witness it. It was a beautiful launch, no hint of any disaster in the works. Employees, media members and a few military people huddled around the countdown clock, as American and shuttle Columbia flags gently swayed in the breeze.
Mullet jumped from the bay bordering the launch pad, and pelicans and seagulls flew overhead. The sun was shining and everything seemed perfect for a launch - even the weather across the world was cooperating, in case the shuttle was forced to abort and return to Earth.
More than a week later, I was stunned by the news. Mission Control no longer had the shuttle on its radar screens. Instead, the vision was a ball of fire streaking across the horizon.
I was to be at the landing site but at the last minute something came up and I was unable to go. I can only imagine what silence split the air as families and others anxiously waited to see the big, white bird glide from the sky.
In Texas, people who never had a connection to the Columbia - outside of knowing it was the nation´s goal to eke out an environment in space through the NASA program - became involved.
For Belinda and Roger Gay, a couple from Hemphill, Texas, it started out like any other Saturday. Belinda was on her way to a baby shower and happened to call home. Her husband, commander of the local VFW chapter, told her to turn around and come home immediately.
They, too, had heard the news and happened to be in the wrong place - where the majority of the debris fell - at the right time, because they could help. The Gays immersed themselves into making sure the VFW hall was turned into a kitchen to feed volunteers who scoured the rural countryside looking for shuttle debris. Belinda told NASA that nearly 3,000 people were fed each day at the site for almost three weeks. That´s about three times the town´s population of 1,100.
“It started out like we were feeding the masses with only two loaves of bread and a basket of fish,” she said. The mother of two attributes it to “a miracle in action.”
It doesn´t surprise me. In my life´s travels, I have seen it time and time again, where people will pitch in and do whatever it takes to help fellow humans.
In Belinda´s words, “Our community felt like the astronauts´ mission became our mission.”
The Gay family was flown to Kennedy Space Center to see the debris a few weeks ago. They agreed it allowed them to find closure to a circumstance beyond their control, one that will be etched in their minds forever.
It is amazing - but not surprising - to hear their story. After all, we are Americans, but more importantly, we have heart and an innate willingness to help others.
That is what makes a great nation.
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