When Norman Sauer heard about the Sept. 11 attacks on the World Trade Center, he predicted he would be called into action.
For two years, the anthropology professor has been a member of Disaster Mortuary Teams, groups of skilled professionals that assists in the identification of bodies and mortuary services in a disaster.
And for two and a half weeks, the professor spent his time working to identify victims in New York and Somerset County, Pa., south of Pittsburgh, where he saw things most people would never dream of seeing.
He returned to Michigan last Wednesday after fulfilling his team’s time commitment and seeing his first mass tragedy. He returned to teaching his class, Anthropology 340, Introduction to Physical Anthropology on Monday.
“I took a few days to relax, it can be a difficult transition,” he said.
Sauer said he received a call from Joyce deJong, a representative of Disaster Mortuary Teams, about 10:15 p.m. Sept. 11 and was told to be in Chicago by 10 a.m. the next morning.
He didn’t know what to think.
“Part of what I felt was that I had this duty to perform for the country, part of it was concern for some of the horror that I was likely to be involved with, part of it was just confusion about what was going on in the world and what was happening to all these people,” he said.
The professor drove to Grand Rapids at 4:30 a.m. Sept. 12 where he met with deJong, who is an adjunct professor of anthropology and director of Forensic Services at Lansing’s Sparrow Hospital. The two then drove to Chicago, where they took a military airplane to Steward Air Force Base in New York state.
Sauer said he recalls what he saw while flying over New York City.
“It looked like someone had pulled a giant tooth out of the skyline of Manhattan,” he said. “My feeling was the feeling of anyone who looks at it - overwhelming sadness.”
While in the city, Sauer assisted in entering data gathered from the victims so they could be identified. DeJong participated in allocating where people would be assigned, discussing how things would proceed and determining the needs of the situation.
Sauer arrived in Pennsylvania on Sept. 18, two days after deJong arrived there. Once there, they dealt specifically with identifying the bodies in the temporary morgue.
DeJong, who was the section leader for the DNA team at the Pittsburgh site, has been a member of Disaster Mortuary Teams since 1996.
The recent disasters mark her seventh time with the team. She also assisted in the Egypt Air crash and the Alaska Airlines crash.
While Sauer was away, Wendy Lackey, one of his former teaching assistants covered his class.
Lackey, an anthropology graduate student, said she expected Sauer would be called to go to one of the crash sites, but she didn’t think the call would come so quickly.
“I was worried about him and the things that he would see,” she said. “I really enjoyed working with the class though.”
Anthropology senior and treasurer of MSU’s Anthropology Club Kevin Cooney, said when he heard was Sauer leaving, he knew the professor would be one of the best people for the job.
Lynne Goldstein, chairperson of the Department of Anthropology said although the university had to make some adjustments in the professors’ absence, it was worth being able to help in some way.
And Sauer and deJong both said they would participate again if needed.
“I have no regrets,” Sauer said. “If I was called on, I would certainly do so. But we all hope and pray that we don’t have to do the same thing again.”
DeJong said she and other team members are proud to have helped by offering knowledge to families who had lost someone.
“People say it’s closure, but I’m not sure what closure is because these wounds will be open for so long,” she said. “But at least we can help take the wonder away.”
Megan Frye can be reached at fryemega@msu.edu.
