Pastor to talk of recovery efforts at Pentagon

By D.A. WILKINSON
VINDICATOR RELIGION EDITOR
YOUNGSTOWN -- The Rev. Peter Lawson plans to talk Sunday about the words of St. Paul.
"Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good," St. Paul wrote in his letter to the Romans.
The pastor of Brownlee Woods Presbyterian Church, 1970 Everett Ave., will be discussing that peaceful message after his recent exposure to the evil of terrorism.
The Rev. Mr. Lawson is also an Army National Guard chaplain who returned home Oct. 14 after spending almost a month helping the families of victims killed in the Sept. 11 attack on the Pentagon and the workers who survived.
Authorities believe 189 people were killed, including 64 people on American Flight 77 that slammed into the building.
"I think that's a relevant message, since I think revenge is on our minds so much, that if we can somehow avenge this thing, that will right all the wrongs," the pastor said. "And that's simply not true. It's not going to bring them back."
His duty: The pastor is a major in the 2nd Brigade, 28th Division, which encompasses most of Pennsylvania, where he used to live. Chaplains from states close to the Pentagon were called in since they could quickly drive there after the attack when air travel was restricted. The pastor was called up Sept. 14, and due to paperwork delays, left Sept. 18. He began work at the Pentagon the next day.
"I was at the incident site, where the crash took place. That's where the FBI workers were, where the Old Guard from Arlington Cemetery were retrieving remains from the Pentagon. It was no longer search and rescue by the time I got there, it was search and recovery."
He worked 12 hours a day for the first three days, working with families of the victims as well as military and rescue workers. The rest of the time he was working nine-hour shifts inside the Pentagon.
Normally, the Pentagon has one chaplain, who was overwhelmed with duties after the attack.
"The Pentagon employs 26,000 people, so it really was a formidable task," Mr. Lawson said.
At crash site: Family members of victims were helped at a nearby hotel, but Mr. Lawson would deal with them when they came to observe the crash site.
"That was very hard. That was really smacking up against the harsh reality of what happened," Mr. Lawson said.
"We were able to bring the families in fairly close to where the crash took place. Some of them had children there, and would say, 'That's where grandpa worked' or 'This is where daddy worked.'"
The pastor also spent part of his time at an area where debris being washed would uncover human remains, as well as personal items that would be returned to the families. He also worked in a make-shift morgue, where the honoring of the victims also provided a steadying influence for the workers.
During his work in the Pentagon, the chaplains would talk to department heads and other workers who were troubled. Most of those people either lost co-workers or were located near the crash site. Many of those workers had additional stress by relocating within the Pentagon and working long hours to quickly resume their duties.
"They had no time to regroup and deal with a lot of issues that were at hand," the pastor said.
"The main thing we try to tell folks is to talk about it. There's a certain military mentality that says that no matter what happens, we're just going to put this out of minds and march forward. I'm all for moving on, but you can't move on as if nothing had happened."
Basically, the Pentagon workers feel the same things everyone else is feeling, except much more intensely, the pastor said.
The big question: People with varying amounts of faith asked different versions of "why?" The chaplains tried to get people to ask those questions.
"If they are angry with God, I would say to people, God gives you permission to be angry. God lets you question," Mr. Lawson said.
"A lot of questioning takes place in the Bible. The psalmists struggled with why God doesn't appear to be faithful the way they understand God should be faithful."
There was no sugar-coated faith suggesting that God will work it all out.
"I don't try to frost anything over," Mr. Lawson, "We tried to meet people where they were. I think we have to honor their pain or anger, and kind of walk the road with them."
The chaplains are trained to work with people of all faiths. And the pastor saw no great anger at Islam.
"This isn't about Islam vs. Christianity. This is about a sect within Islam which is setting itself the whole Western lifestyle."
The chaplains also did memorial services to help the workers even as the smell of the burnt jet fuel filled the air in and outside the Pentagon.
The pastor's message comes, of course, from his experiences at the Pentagon. He saw federal officials, the Red Cross and businesses supplying whatever was needed.
"That was really amazing, to see that wave of overcoming evil with good. I really believe we experience God through the actions of people, for the most part. God works his grace through people. People ask, 'Where was God in all this?' I think one response is, [he was] manifesting himself through so many people who gave so much of themselves. It was tremendous."
XServices at Brownlee Woods Presbyterian Church are at 11 a.m. Sunday school is at 9:45 a.m.