CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Twenty-five years after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, retired Clarksville dentist Dr. Ernie DeWald can still remember exactly where he was when he first heard the news. "I was at work," DeWald said.
At the time, DeWald was still practicing dentistry in Clarksville. Later that day, he received a phone call asking if he could use his training to help identify victims at Ground Zero in New York City. "I've had enough training with the military, I can do this," DeWald recalled.
DeWald traveled to New York and spent two weeks assisting in the aftermath of the attacks.
Initially, he worked in the morgue as recovery crews slowly located and brought in human remains from the World Trade Center site. "Everything would stop," DeWald said. "And they would form this column of people and they would take the body through there and everybody would salute it."
The experience left a lasting impression. "You just well up inside to see how much these people were thought of, how special they were," he said.
As the needs of the massive identification effort evolved, DeWald's role changed as well.
Instead of working directly in the morgue, he began helping catalog photographs and personal effects that were sent to a family reunification center and used in efforts to identify victims. "I'd do the photograph and I'd write what the photograph is," he said.
DeWald said that task was, in some ways, even more emotionally challenging. "It still took a piece of you," he said. "You still knew this was someone who once was alive, or could be alive."
The work also taught him another lesson: Those helping others often need support themselves.
During his time in New York, DeWald received a care package from a small community in upstate New York. "Inside the box was a letter written by the worker who put the box together, saying how much they appreciated what they were doing, trying to help people," DeWald said. "'This we hope will help you.'"
NewsChannel 5 interviewed DeWald in 2001 when he returned home from Ground Zero. "Psychologically it takes a big chunk out of you," he said at the time. "So you have to be able to talk to somebody about it."
A quarter-century later, the emotions are still there. "I felt like I could do something," DeWald said. "I was given a gift and I was able to use it."
That experience also led to a friendship that continues today.
DeWald said one of his annual 9/11 traditions is a phone call with a firefighter who survived the attacks at the World Trade Center.
The two do not spend much time discussing the events of Sept. 11.
Instead, they simply check in on each other.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at Chris.Davis@NewsChannel5.com.
Every night, Forrest Sanders brings us stories showcasing the best of humanity. This story profiles, perhaps, Tennessee's most eccentric resident who made an impact on an aspiring journalist. I'm always in awe of Forrest's storytelling; I truly appreciated his vulnerability with this one.
- Carrie Sharp
