Ground Zero left mark on helper's life
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By Robbie Dingeman
Advertiser Staff Writer
Ken Lee's work and vivid recollections from Ground Zero have earned him national honors, but a year later the American Red Cross volunteer remains humbled by the experiences he shared with other helpers and heroes.
Jeff Widener • The Honolulu Advertiser
Lee, 58, of Moanalua Valley, is a retired federal social worker whom the American Red Cross flew to New York City just days after the terrorist attacks. He is a mental health professional trained to help the families of those lost in air crashes and to work with police, fire and rescue workers to cope with the trauma around them.
Ken Lee transports an avocado tree to his home. He plans to plant it in memory of those killed on Sept. 11.
"I am just still so amazed and constantly reminded everyday about the resilience of the human spirit and how we rise to the occasion and come through with resources and energy and caring," he said.
While he was in New York, Lee worked 18 to 20 hours a day, handing out food and water, counseling and coordinating volunteers. By the time he returned home, he had dropped 15 pounds.
Tested by the tragedy, Lee kept a journal of his experiences.
He wrote on Sunday, Sept. 16, 2001: "The early-morning sun cast a pink golden glow to this scene of such death and destruction. On Canal Street, the 77th floor of the collapsed tower loomed like a sculpture from hell — a memorial to the holocaust. Thousands of police, fire and rescue workers, and thousands of military personnel were compressed into a 12-block area — Ground Zero — the place of digging, sorting and grieving."
Excerpts from the journal were published in The Advertiser, stirring interest in places and from people he said he never imagined.
He has been asked to teach disaster mental health classes across the country for the Red Cross and other organizations. Parts of his journal were read into the Congressional Record in support of a bill that got social workers "a bigger slice of the federal dollar" in disasters.
Lee is happy to share what he's learned but somewhat uncomfortable with the spotlight. "I still don't think I did anything that special or that unusual," he said.
The National Association of Social Workers gave him a national lifetime achievement award in health and mental health practice in April in Washington, D.C.
The Knee/Wittman award is highly valued because "it's your peers recognizing you for a life's work," said Debbie Shimizu, executive director for the National Association of Social Workers-Hawai'i chapter.
Shimizu said the local chapter had honored Lee earlier as social worker of the year. "Ken is special because he is so giving and unselfishly volunteers his time for so many causes," she said.
In addition to his disaster work with the American Red Cross, Shimizu said he was honored for his work volunteering with the American Cancer Society with teenagers and children who are cancer survivors.
Locally, Lee received a Clara Barton Award from the American Red Cross, an award not presented annually but reserved for those who show leadership and personal expertise. In selecting him for that award, officials noted that Lee, serving with the Red Cross since 1994, "cannot help but be a leader in all he does."
Lee still keeps in touch regularly through e-mail with five other Red Cross volunteers who were in New York last September. He has kept busy with classes and other disaster preparedness work and the renewed national focus has kept him excited about his work.
Last month, he was teaching a seminar at a conference for the Navy just 300 yards from the Pentagon and still feeling pretty excited about the opportunity to reach more volunteers about a topic he has been concerned about for years. "I love teaching," he said.
But after he returned to Hawai'i on Aug. 20 he grew tired, listless and had trouble sleeping. He was starting to feel anxiety because of the upcoming anniversary, he said.
"I got to be Mr. Grouch," Lee said. "I started crying. I started crying for no reason at all."
But he remains optimistic in his view of the world.
"I'm impressed by the nationwide movement to volunteerism," Lee said. The Red Cross credits him with inspiring 20 volunteers to call headquarters here to ask how they could serve.
Lee plans to spend tomorrow's anniversary quietly and privately, steering clear of the public ceremonies to mark the event even though the aftermath he witnessed changed his life.
He returned to New York last October to help train more mental health workers, but did not return to Ground Zero. "I had no need to go back down there," Lee said. "I'd love to go back and see the memorial."
Reach Robbie Dingeman at rdingeman@honoluluadvertiser.com or 535-2429.
