Jill A. Hawk, Chief Ranger, Mt. Ranier National Park.
Interviewed by Chuck Smythe, Ph.D., Cultural Anthropologist
May 13, 2002

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CHUCK SMYTHE: I'm calling you really because you had some very interesting experiences relating to the September 11th attack, and also, your Superintendent mentioned that you would be a good person to speak to, both in terms of things there and your participation in the events at the Statue of Liberty. Can you recall that morning of the 11th and what you were doing when you first heard? I guess, with the time difference, you weren't at work yet.

JILL HAWK: No, that's correct. I had just woken up, and turned the TV on, and they had breaking news on TV. The first plane had just hit one of the trade towers, and I was standing there watching it and saw the second plane come in from behind and hit the second one. And of course, after the first one hit, as everyone else is hearing, you know, there was an accident. Then, as soon as you saw the second one come in, you knew it was more than that…And then [I] came to work, and we started dealing with just enhancing security at the gate, being more attuned to what was going on at the Park.

CHUCK SMYTHE: How did you get into that? Was that something you encountered as soon as you hit the Park, or was that something you thought of to start implementing?

JILL HAWK: I think that's something that all trained protection rangers go into. Given that it was -- after the Pentagon was hit as well, then obviously it expanded everyone's concerns. As soon as I got to the Park, I went to meet with the Superintendent and we met for about ten minutes, to determine what we were going to do on a local level. And then, at that point, just keep attuned to what was happening in the Park. We didn't bring in extra rangers but…the majority of the rangers were out on the road and not doing paperwork or anything like that, but out being visible. …

CHUCK SMYTHE: When you sat down with the Superintendent, was there any discussion of closing the Park?

JILL HAWK: No, not given the threat that we saw. There [weren't] any specific threats made against this Park. Again, the attacks were done on the east coast, hitting extremely high profile, internationally known areas.

CHUCK SMYTHE: Did the region ever put out an order or a directive to close?

JILL HAWK: The memorandum was, depending on any type of threats that were received, that we should stay open and stay functioning, unless such a threat was received. And so that's what we did.

…[and continued on subsequent days] … It was actually very quiet here. The majority of the people from Tacoma, Seattle and Yakima were basically staying fairly close to home. Our visitation significantly dropped. … It stayed down throughout September, and then in October it started coming back up. … We started picking back up during our normal winter season.

CHUCK SMYTHE: Were there any special events or anything that happened in the Park, or any gatherings, or just staff meetings sort of focusing around September 11th?

JILL HAWK: Yes. The Superintendent called an employee meeting, … I think it was the afternoon of the 12th. Gave all the employees an update on what we were doing in regard to security, which was just increased awareness … At that point we knew that I was going to go to New York City, it was just a matter of when we could get me on a flight. And a number of our other people were on standby for other teams. And a number of people stated that they were happy that if they couldn't go and do something, that at least someone on Mt. Rainier was at least sending someone to go and do something. …

CHUCK SMYTHE: Now, you were ready to go the next day, huh?

JILL HAWK: I was ready to go that afternoon.

CHUCK SMYTHE: Really? Tell me what you were feeling?

JILL HAWK: Well, feeling incredibly overwhelmed. And I think a large number of emergency responders are this way: is the desire to go take care of things and make things better; and that if we could just get on seeing everything would be taken care of. A burning desire to help. I started my permanent Park Service career at the Statue of Liberty, still knew a number of people there. And just wanted to give back. And in the Critical Incidence Stress Management, the peer support role, it's always a focus to get there and just start listening and help in any way possible.

And so Pat Bucello who's the Program Manager for the [CISM] program for peer support drove down from [Acadia National Park in] Maine on Wednesday or Thursday, and she and I were working to get a team in there that could drive and then figuring out a time when I could fly in. So the majority of the week was working out the logistics so I could get there. …and I flew out Sunday morning, down to San Francisco and then over to Newark [New Jersey]. …

CHUCK SMYTHE: Well, how did you make your way from the airport to [Ellis Island]?

JILL HAWK: Well, we stayed in Newark and rented a car at the airport and drove over. We had our badges so we were able to travel basically wherever we needed to. But at that point, we had access at least to Liberty State Park and Jersey City, and worked our way through [two] roadblocks, to get to the statue.

CHUCK SMYTHE: What did you find when you got there? I mean, you were the first team of this CISM?

JILL HAWK: Well, we had actually had a team come in with Pat on Wednesday night, Thursday morning, from [the] local area -- Delaware Water Gap [National Recreation Area], Shenandoah [National Park], and I think Gettysburg [National Military Park], and then Pat … from Acadia. So they had been there for a couple of days and basically laid the groundwork, completed an assessment, and by that I mean, you know, how many people are in the Park, what Parks are affected, what is their location, what are the contact numbers for those managers, what is the need at those Parks? And then I came in, basically on the second wave of the team that started doing debriefings and one-on-ones in stress education.

September 11, 2001 Oral History Documentation Project
Northeast Region, National Park Service

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