Fears, tears from all ages

Besides fear and awe, some residents expressed anger because they believe the government wasn't prepared.
By JoANNE VIVIANO
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
In a fog. Like a dream. A walking nightmare. A bad movie.
However they described it, most area residents experienced shock and disbelief Tuesday upon hearing about terrorist attacks on Washington, D.C., and New York City.
As news reports poured in, workers were glued to television sets, parents hurried to schools to pick up their children, a sense of security vanished.
"That someone could come in and do that to us, it's shocking. It's just dreadful," said Edith Cardelein, 78, of Youngstown, who heard the news while on a visit to her husband's doctor. "To think that they can just close down the country is just dreadful. ... This is such a devastating morning for everybody. I imagine we'll all end up crying after this."
Cardelein, who lived through air raids during the London blitz, said this tragedy has her more shaken.
"I can't possibly foresee what would happen to youngsters. What future do you have if this is going on?" she said. "Let's hope that it gets better from now on. I don't think it can get worse. I don't think many people will sleep tonight."
Her husband, Lewis, 83, likened the tragedy to Pearl Harbor. "This is the same thing," he said. "Let's rise up and get this done."
Getting closer: Stacey Wittenauer of Hubbard called the event surreal. She said her fear did not begin to mount until she heard of a hijacked plane downing near Pittsburgh.
Wittenauer, a registered nurse at St. Elizabeth Hospital, said patients and staff were glued to televisions as the events unfolded.
"What dawned on me was that everybody knows where they were when Kennedy was shot," she said. "And this is something huge."
The attack should put America on its toes, said Ruth Brown of Youngstown. We are not untouchable, she said, and would not survive a war here.
"I truly believe, if there is a war, it's going to be in the United States, and we are not prepared," said Brown, 73. Foreign terrorists "have lived through tragedy. We have not seen tragedy. We don't know what it is to go hungry. We don't know what it is for a country to come and bomb and kill us. You never thought that our kids would have to go through that. It's a whole new generation."
Fear: Brown said she feels fear for her grandchildren and great-grandchildren.
"It puts a fear in you," she said. "This is actually happening. This is not a movie. This is life."
"It looks like world war out there. What's going to be the next target? Texas? LA? Chicago?" asked Tony Romeo, 52, of Campbell. His mother, Carmel, 76, of Campbell, said she felt nervous and shaky -- the same reaction she had when President Kennedy was shot. "You see it, but you don't want to believe it."
Christopher Anderson, 12, said he was in art class when he heard about the disaster. A teacher turned on the television, and pupils watched history unfold throughout the school day.
"I was sad because all those people had died in that plane crash," said the Eagle Heights Academy sixth-grader.
He said he was also scared that terrorists might come to Youngstown.
"Before that happened, I felt like everybody was safe, and here now it's not," Christopher said. "I feel like somebody could break into my house and put a bomb in it."
Beginning: Jesse Benson, 23, of Youngstown agreed that the United States has begun to experience the terror. "This is the first time we get to see what it feels like," he said. " ... Think about how great this country is, and we couldn't stop that."
Benson said such an attack is not surprising against a country viewed as No. 1 in the world. He said he was frustrated that the seeming domino effect of the terrorism was not put to a halt sooner.
Leon Teague, 28, of Youngstown, expressed anger at an administration that he said should have been prepared and at airport personnel who he believes fell behind on the job.
"[President Bush] should have been on guard," Teague said. "He should have had people watching."
Others: Brenda Channell, 47, of Warren, said, "It's hard to believe there are people that evil in the world who could kill that many people and not blink an eye."
Jamie McConahy, 21, of Champion, said the attack comes from the United States' being involved in too much international business. "If we would keep out of other countries' business, none of this would happen," she said. "We've got problems of our own to take care of."
Foreign students: A group of young travelers from overseas spoke of a more imminent fear.
"We never experienced anything like this in our lives," said Jacinta McCarthy, 22, of Ireland. The group had come to the states to work with a special needs company in New York. They visited a co-worker in Boardman before expecting to head home.
With a flight scheduled to leave New York's John F. Kennedy airport this weekend, Helen Rawlinson, 21, of England was "really scared." But most said they wanted to be home and would board a plane, if available, by week's end.
Rebecca Thompson, 24, of New Zealand said most difficult has been telephoning relatives to let them know the group is OK.
Health care: At St. Elizabeth Health Center, Chaplain Paul Lisko said he was keeping workers focused on patient care. If patients suffer because health-care providers are distracted, Lisko said, it would amount to another tragedy.
"We're here doing good every day, and we have to continue," Lisko said. "This is something we can control."
Also a deacon at St. Nicholas Catholic church in Struthers, he said he expects the tragedy will mean that religious faith will grow deeper. "I've never seen so many people in the [hospital] chapel," he said. "You realize how vulnerable you are. You realize how fragile life is."
Personnel at the medical center faced the same concerns as others throughout the country: sons and relatives in the military, daughters in Washington, D.C., parents stranded in other states.
Cardiac surgeon Alejandro A. Franco said he and colleagues performed surgeries amid pages from children. For Dr. Franco, a daughter was about to board an airplane in Los Angeles when the tragedy struck. A colleague spent the morning waiting to hear from a pregnant daughter who works in a building a few blocks from the Pentagon.
Dr. Franco, a native Peruvian, said he fears for foreign-born people who might be singled out to bear the brunt of anti-terrorist sentiment. He said he expects racial tension akin to the tension created by anti-black sentiment in the 1950s.
"There's going to be a lot of anger. A lot of people died today," Dr. Franco said. " Unfortunately this is only the beginning. We haven't seen the end of this yet."