Red Cross volunteer Dawna Bates leafs through photos and news clippings she saved from the response to September 11, 2001.
In the days after United Flight 93 crashed into a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, the hillside west of the impact site became the place where the families of the 40 passengers and crew first saw the ground where their loved ones had died. Dawna Bates, a Red Cross volunteer from Latrobe, Pennsylvania, spent her shifts on that hill taking care of the people who were allowed onto it.
Bates, a teacher, drove to Shanksville the morning after the crash, and from the overlook she could see the recovery workers moving through the field below her, collecting evidence piece by piece. They carried buckets and planted flags as they worked.
"Still seeing smoke," Bates said. "Still smelling the fuel at that area."
She had responded to disasters for the Red Cross for more than 30 years by then, and none of them compared to this one.
"I've worked floods and tornadoes and all of that, but this was completely different," she said. "You're dealing with the families completely and their emotions."
In her volunteer role, Bates spent time talking to the recovery workers about what they were going through.
“Just trying to make their days feel better,” she said.
In addition to her comfort and care, the most effective thing she had to offer came from the nearby community. Local students showed their support by delivering handmade pins to the site.
Bates remembers the recovery workers coming up to the Western Overlook and asking, “Did anybody bring anything new today?"
She handed them out one at a time, and she could see what a small thing from a child did for a person who had spent their day in that field.
"I would hand them that, and you could see the smile on their face, that it did brighten their day,” Bates said.
On Dawna Bates' last day at the crash site in 2001, a news reporter took a picture of her hugging fellow Red Cross volunteer, Roseann Jioio. The photo was published in Reader’s Digest and later became a permanent part of the display in the Flight 93 National Memorial Visitor Center.
When the passengers’ and crew’s families arrived at the overlook, Bates recalled state troopers standing and saluting as they came in. She specifically remembers three riders on horseback.
"Those horses stood there for over an hour and never moved," Bates said. "It was like they were completely aware of the situation and how they needed to be respectful."
The Red Cross volunteers stayed close while the Flight 93 families looked out over the field, providing shoulders to lean on during an incredibly difficult time.
"So many of the family members came over to the Red Cross and said thank you,” Bates said.
The Red Cross still responds when the worst happens, and volunteers like Bates make the work possible. Learn how to join them at redcross.org/volunteer.
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