By Winston Henvey

When the first reports flashed across television screens on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, Richard Wood thought the World Trade Center had suffered a tragic fire.

Within hours, he realized the nation was facing something much larger.

"We discovered it was actually a terrorist attack," he said. 

At the time, Wood served as chair of the Red Cross North Texas Disaster Mental Health Team. A licensed professional counselor, he had responded to disasters across the country, but nothing compared to the uncertainty and scale of 9/11.

As news of the attacks spread, Wood immediately went to the American Red Cross DFW Metro East Chapter. Calls began flooding in from people desperate for information about loved ones, confused about what was happening and searching for someone who could help.

"Our mental health team came into the chapter and helped people," Wood said. "The phones were ringing and people were calling from all over the place and didn't know what to do and didn't know what was going on."

While Red Cross staff focused on managing operations, Wood's Disaster Mental Health volunteers filled critical gaps. They answered phones, assisted at the front desk and met with people who walked into the chapter looking for answers.

The chapter also created a space where people could process their emotions.

"We set up a room for people to come in and want to sit and talk and just be very confused and scared and frustrated," Wood said. "People were worried and concerned and just wanted to talk to somebody."

One of the greatest challenges was the lack of information during the first hours and days after the attacks.

"There wasn't much information to give people," Wood said. "But we could just let people talk. I think they wanted to be heard for a while."

The Disaster Mental Health team also provided emotional support to employees and volunteers carrying out the response and worked with American Airlines personnel in Dallas. Flight attendants and airline employees faced enormous uncertainty as flights were grounded worldwide, and the aviation industry struggled to understand the unfolding crisis.

Amid the chaos, Wood witnessed an extraordinary example of coordination. A Dallas woman urgently needed to travel to California for an organ transplant, but commercial flights were unavailable. The Red Cross worked alongside FEMA, medical partners and other organizations to make the trip possible.

"It took a lot of work to get that done," Wood said. "A lot of people worked together."

Their combined efforts secured express-bus transportation and arranged for a nurse to accompany the patient on the journey. 

"Everybody got together, pulled all of our money and the little bitty budgets we had at the time," Wood said. "Put together all that to get organized to get her to California for the organ transplant."

For Wood, that story remains a powerful reminder of what can happen when people unite during difficult times.

Another memory has stayed with him for years. During a month-long Red Cross deployment to Puerto Rico following Hurricane Georges, Wood worked alongside firefighters from Manhattan who had volunteered to help local families recover.

"There were some really nice guys there in Puerto Rico," he said. "I was there for a month and got to know the guys pretty well."

Looking back on 9/11, Wood remembers the fear and uncertainty but also remembers the power of people helping people. Whether listening to worried callers, supporting airline employees, helping a transplant patient reach lifesaving care or serving communities far from home, he saw compassion in action.