By Bethany Bray Patterson, American Red Cross Regional Communications Manager

The morning of Sept. 11, 2001 remains vivid in Linda Mathes’ memory.

Mathes was CEO of the region of the American Red Cross that included Washington D.C. and the Pentagon. That morning, she was meeting with officials from the Metropolitan Police Department in the Red Cross offices on K Street in Washington D.C.

In the middle of the meeting, a Red Cross colleague came in, tapped Mathes on the shoulder and let her know that tragedy and terror were unfolding just a few miles away.

Mathes and the police officers ended their meeting abruptly, both springing into action to respond to the unimaginable. Ultimately, 64 people on the plane that was hijacked and crashed into the Pentagon on Sept. 11 were killed, along with 125 people in the Pentagon itself. 

“The major role that I tried to play that day was to stay calm in the midst of something that had a lot of unknowns to it,” recalls Mathes, who now serves as a volunteer with the American Red Cross Tiffany Circle women in philanthropy group, after a career that spanned four decades with the organization. “What was known was that it was a horrible incident, there was a lot of suffering and there was going to be a lot of need for the Red Cross [to help].”

Information gathering on that first day included checking in with staff and volunteers to see who was available and ensuring that everyone was safe, Mathes says. Step two was to mobilize people and resources, including a Red Cross emergency vehicle that went to the Pentagon and remained stationed there to support the many first responders at the disaster site.

She also made a phone call home on Sept. 11 to assure her mother that she was safe – and doing what she loved to do: Helping others.

“Part of the role we [the Red Cross] played was to be the calm in the midst of chaos … allaying fears and being calm and steady, as best we could,” Mathes recalls.

In the days and weeks that followed, the Red Cross of the National Capital Area had a 24/7 presence at the “camp unity” response that was established on the grounds of the Pentagon. The local Red Cross region supported the first responders as well as the many Red Cross disaster response volunteers who deployed to the region from across the U.S. to help.

The Red Cross provided food, shelter, supplies and emotional support as responders worked at the site around the clock. The organization has a long history of responding to disasters, but Sept. 11 felt very different, Mathes says.

“I remember this feeling of being in a situation that we had never been in before, and not knowing what would happen next … That uncertainty, combined with the need to be steady, calm and focused to do whatever needed to be done,” says Mathes. “I remember so vividly, not only thinking about the lives who had been directly impacted, but the families who were losing loved ones – husbands, fathers, brothers, mothers. We were involved in supporting everyone, including members of the [Red Cross] team.”

The weeks and months that followed Sept. 11 carried despair and trauma – as well as an incredible outpouring of support from all facets of the community, Mathes says. Thousands of people signed up to volunteer with the Red Cross and financial support came from individuals and groups throughout the DMV.

“I’ll never forget that … I was and still am proud that people associated the Red Cross with being an organization to reach out to and get involved with to help other people,” says Mathes. “That’s a powerful strength that I hope the Red Cross always has.”

Sept. 11 also reinforced the fact that disasters do not follow county, city or state boundaries – and responders “get so much more done when we do it together,” Mathes says. In one example, the Red Cross and other agencies devised a way to do joint casework with victims, so they didn’t have to explain their painful experience over and over to seek support.

“Crisis can lead to doing things differently and better, and it certainly did for us,” Mathes says. “The mission of the Red Cross is a humanitarian one. That humanitarian strength of the Red Cross really did show through during that time [after Sept. 11], and still does.”