In the days after 9/11, the families of the 40 people killed on United Flight 93 came to Shanksville, Pennsylvania to grieve near the field where the plane went down. They arrived in an unfamiliar place, at the worst moment of their lives. The American Red Cross was there to care for them.

Debbie Sines was one of the volunteers who met them. A Pittsburgh nurse who had volunteered with the Red Cross since 1994, she was asked to look after the family of one passenger, Colleen Fraser.

Fraser, 51, of Elizabeth, New Jersey, was a national disability rights advocate. She helped write the Americans with Disabilities Act and was invited to the White House when President George H.W. Bush signed it into law in 1990. She was traveling for work on Sept. 11, 2001, as one of the passengers and crew who died when Flight 93 crashed.

More than a dozen of Fraser’s family members flew in for the memorial and a visit to the crash site. Many had serious medical needs. Sines led a team of Red Cross volunteers, including two other nurses, and two disaster mental health workers, licensed professionals trained to support people in crisis. The Red Crossers stayed with the family around the clock; from the evening they arrived in Pittsburgh until they flew home days later.

“Our responsibility was taking care of the family, so we had to put our own needs last and put the family’s needs first,” Sines said.

The Red Crossers tended to the family’s health needs and stayed close through their grief. They sat with the family late into the night, listened to their memories of Fraser and made sure no one felt alone.

“The Red Cross’s role was to make the families feel welcomed, to make them feel proud of their family member who perished in the crash,” Sines said. “We’re here for you. We want to help you remember your family member.”

Behind the Scenes, Beside the Families

Under the Aviation Disaster Family Assistance Act of 1996, the National Transportation Safety Board designated the American Red Cross to coordinate emotional care and support for families after an aviation disaster. In partnership with other agencies, the Red Cross also organized the Flight 93 memorial service in Shanksville in 2001, which drew national leaders, including First Lady Laura Bush and Pennsylvania Governor Tom Ridge.

‘I’ll never forget you’

Twenty-five years on, Sines remembers the weekend in detail. One moment stays with her most is from the drive into the crash site. As the buses carrying the families drove down the dirt road, Pennsylvania State Troopers lined the route, and each one raised a salute.

“Even today when I think about it, I want to cry,” Sines said.

She never saw Fraser's family again after she helped them board their flight home, though she thinks of them often.

“I’ll never forget you,” Sines said, as if speaking to them now. “You’re always in my mind for how courageous you were.”

Sines said this experience, though incredibly traumatic, made her proud to say that she volunteers for the Red Cross.

The Red Cross still shows up for families on their worst days, and volunteers like Sines make the work possible. Learn how to join them at redcross.org/volunteer.