Title: Risk Management Keynote
Text:
File Categories:
Central Thrust: 9/11 Memories
Ill: 9/11
Hym:
Theological Concern:
Point of Immediacy: Conference
Probs in Comm:
Sermon in a Sentence:
Attribute of God:
Preached: 050911 Anchorage, AK; Risk Mgt convention
Risk Management
I. Introduction
A. General Navy intro.
B. New Orleans friends.
1. Navy.
a. Messages and E-mail reports via Navy sources.
b. Iwo Jima there, power in MS and LA returned to ¾ of those without.
c. Cell phone coverage in LA now 75%.
d. Still have over 800 Navy reservists unaccounted for.
2. Church.
a. New Orleans East 4500 Gawain Dr
b. New Life SDA Church 4338 Elysian Fields Av (Pastor Dragoon)
c. West Bank SDA Church
d. Metairie SDA Church
C. Max DuPre
“The first task of a leader is to describe reality.
The last task of a leader is to say thank you.
In between the leader is a servant.”
1. Describing a reality that includes a vision of what can be.
2. Must give hope.
D. Our mission: share the good news about God with a needy world.
1. i.e. give hope, project hope, instill hope.
2. ARM part of the core of Adventist church.
3. Measure our level of success by the degree to which those who hear and follow us feel hopeful.
4. Hope for the future gets us through the disasters of the present.
5. Describing reality is more intense but less complicated at times of disaster.
E. Prevention harder task than recovery.
1. Memories of early 60s safety lectures by Ferd Marino at Burrill Lbr Company.
a. Loved his presentations.
b. Annoyed at the required hard hats.
c. Seemed a strange thing to pay us to do, but if that’s what the boss wanted to pay us for, we did it!
2. Navy safety—“safety stand downs.”
3. Frightening disclaimers.
a. e.g. Timberline Lodge.
“Purchase of a Timberline lift ticket and use of the facilities is an agreement by the purchaser and user not to hold Timberline liable for any personal injury or property damage arising out of the use of the ski area or its facilities. If you do not agree to be bound by the terms and conditions of the lift ticket, do not purchase or use the lift ticket or the facilities at the ski area. Presentation of the lift ticket is your agreement to the terms and conditions of rules which are printed on the ticket.”
4. Creates dilemmas and leads to ethical dilemmas.
a. Paul Dybdahl, not running while moving irrigation pipes or riding on a tractor when there was no seat. Transposed the letters in his name so it wasn’t really he who signed!
b. e.g. Theo faculty suggesting Risk Mgt could solve their problems by not allowing any students, faculty or staff on college campuses!
5. Measure our level of success by the degree to which those who hear and follow us feel hopeful: optimistic, contented and at peace.
II. [Begin PPT program] 9-11 memories.
A. Sources: Navy, GC communication dept and esp First Wednesday interviews, some commercial media shots.
B. Watching NYC tower news and live as second tower was hit.
1. Praying together.
2. Going back to work—last day before returning to WWC.
C. Roar, thud, asking RP Chief if planes broke sound barrier that close.
D. Fire alarm, evacuation of building, seeing smoke and fire at Pentagon.
1. “Is this the end of the world?!”
2. Cell phone call to Barbara.
3. Responding to request for volunteers.
E. 36 hours on site, overseeing purple-suited chaplains.
1. Under overpass, talking and praying with those slightly burned, bruised, suspected broken.
2. Man “trooping the line,” had been at a meeting in Roslyn, concerned for his wife who worked “right there. This is all I can do.”
a. She did not survive.
3. Lessons: no one cared about rank, branch of service, military or civilian, race. United in crisis.
F. Barry Black on a Trident Sub out of Bangor, WA, rumored dead and his death covered up by Pentagon!
G. Assigned with others as CACO (Casualty Assistance Call Officer) member to the Jamee Fallon family in Woodbridge, VA.
1. Background.
a. Single mother in her 20s.
b. New to this assignment at the Navy Command Center, ground floor of the Pentagon, S side of E ring.
1) Maze of computers, screens, maps, phone lines and communication devices.
2) As new flag officer, was shown this area by a flag mentor, John Cotton, who is now Vice Admiral (3 star) and Director of the Navy Reserve.
c. Left her toddler with her parents that morning and drove to work.
2. Days we had no word.
a. Couldn’t find her vehicle—then traced it to an impound lot.
b. No official word until positive identification, often via DNA from Dover AFB.
c. The Chief maintained telephone contact with the family, the rest of us waited until we had confirmation of her death.
d. Father was a retired Navy chief; he knew an official notice would be brought in person.
3. The visit.
a. “Don’t want you to come.”
b. Chief Chappell, CDR _____, CO of Command Center, and I were required to go.
c. Lady shook her finger in my face: “I blame God for this and I don’t want to talk to you.”
d. No answer at the door.
e. Finally a young man ushered us to the living room where we waited and waited as, one by one, family began to trickle in.
f. I went to bedroom to talk with Jamee’s mother.
g. We each briefly shared our identification with loss.
1) Chief lost mother-in-law and mother during previous year.
2) CDR brought flying friends home in body bags.
3) Shannon.
h. Prayed with arm around each other.
i. Lessons learned: doesn’t matter who you are, we seek comfort in those who know our pain.
4. Follow up.
a. Father died with cancer.
b. Phone call 7 months later answered by Warrant Officer Craig Sincock, the man I had met “trooping the line” on Sept 11!
1) They all had met in a support group.
H. Visit to Dover.
1. Traumatized staff.
2. Chaplains assigned and even they were emotionally overloaded.
3. c.f. visit at time of USS Cole attack in Oct of (00??)
a. Impromptu visits with CACO officers.
b. Identity with families.
1) BJB’s writing to them later.
I. Visit to NYC 10 days after the attack.
1. Overwhelmed by the magnitude of the devastation and the huge volunteer response.
2. Peter Larson’s description from the pile.
III. Hope in spite of disaster.
