By Town Crier Staff Report

Photo by Monique Schoenfeld, Town Crier

From church sanctuaries to school assemblies and impromptu noontime gatherings, Los Altos-area residents of all ages, religions and ethnic backgrounds gathered together all last week to show love and unity in the wake of the worst terrorist attack in U.S. history.

After the Sept. 11 airplane hijacking disasters that leveled New York’s World Trade Center and ripped open a hole in the Pentagon, residents shared stories of relatives and friends who worked at both ill-fated institutions. They related fears and showed relief when word came through of their safety.

Los Altos: Coping with an American tragedy

Some were not fortunate. For Yvonne Olson of Los Altos and her son Ted, the U.S. solicitor general, it was a time of sorrow when they received word Ted’s wife Barbara, a former federal prosecutor and CNN commentator, was on the plane that crashed into the Pentagon.

Within hours of the early morning attacks, local churches were opening their sanctuaries and scheduling special services for those who wanted to pray or gather their thoughts.

Congregation Beth Am in Los Altos Hills, Christ Episcopal Church, Los Altos United Methodist Church and Foothills Congregational, among others, all held special services in the wake of the tragedy.

“It’s important to provide a forum that brings people together,” said the Rev. Malcolm Young of Union Presbyterian. “It’s been a difficult week for everybody.”

While terror raged on the East Coast Sept. 11, it was still business as usual for the City of Los Altos and local schools remained open.

However, school officials did call on counselors from the Community Health Awareness Council to help students deal with the events. Letters were sent home to parents in the primary and secondary grades.

“We had people on the campuses immediately,” said Monique Kane, CHAC executive director. “I think the adults were having a hard time with it because it was so horrible.”

Counselors were in place at the schools all last week, Kane said.

“This event will have far reaching impact for us and the nation as a whole,” read a letter co-authored by Los Altos High Principal George Perez. “It is a horrific illustration of our vulnerability and for many students, it is the first time they have a full awareness of terrorist implications here in the United States.”

A letter sent home to Springer School parents in the Los Altos School District urged “discretion when viewing the scenes,” wrote Principal Bob Celeste. “Younger children may need a great deal of parental assistance interpreting the cause and the meaning of the attacks upon our citizens.” Celeste said that if children are “left hanging and adults they trust portray the image of uncertainty, they will become very anxious. Information is the link to developing security, so please let your children know what is being done to correct the situation.”

Marge Gratiot, superintendent of the Los Altos School District, said she met with the staffs on that fateful Tuesday.

“We wanted as normal a routine as possible,” Gratiot said. “We were not going to have the TV on in the classroom all day.” She said the parents of about 30 district students kept their children home that day. Gratiot praised the Los Altos Police Department for having officers checking in at schools to make sure students and staff were OK.

Los Altos Police Chief Don Johnson said he staffed three additional officers on Sept. 11.

“We beefed up staffing on the streets - hitting the schools, the downtown, to let them (the residents) know we’re here,” Johnson said.

Like the rest of the nation and the world, Los Altos residents could be seen and heard continually talking about the tragedies while conducting business, eating out downtown or talking with neighbors.

Thousands of eyes were fixed throughout the day on TV news reports of the carnage. The scenes of the burning and crumbling World Trade Center towers were forever etched in people’s minds.

No passengers on the four hijacked airliners survived, with the fourth plane likely diverted by courageous passengers from its intended target, crashing in rural Pennsylvania.

The death tolls are staggering, topping 5,000 in New York alone. All four planes were scheduled to fly to the West Coast.

Los Altos resident Sheila Schmidt, whose son, Lt. Cmdr. John M. Sheehan is stationed in the Persian Gulf, worried about her son as people aimed suspicions and talk of retaliation toward the Middle East. She speculated, as others have, that the plane that crashed in Pennsylvania was headed for the White House.

“It was a smart attack to hit symbols of the nation’s strength and wealth,” Schmidt said. “50,000 people could be in those (World Trade Center) buildings.”

Schmidt expressed interest in forming an e-mail support group. Her current e-mail address is vsschmidt@aol.com.

Deepa Arora, spokeswoman for the Palo Alto chapter of the American Red Cross, last week said the chapter was on full alert and organizers were mobilizing volunteers, such as Los Altos resident Karen Duncan. The Red Cross has also set up a Family Well-being Inquiry line to give callers information about immediate family members in New York or Washington, D.C. The numbers are 688-0445 or 688-0415.

The Stanford Blood Center was overflowing with volunteers donating blood to help the victims. One prospective donor noted a 2- to 2 1/2-hour wait last Tuesday afternoon. The center eventually had to send away donors and ask them to come back next month.

The Sept. 11 events triggered controversies in Los Altos and across the country about whether certain events should go ahead as planned or be canceled. Many sporting events were postponed, but others went ahead as scheduled.

For the most part however, the mood was more somber than angry.

“Our hearts are deeply saddened. Our resolve is strong. We are united as all Americans,” wrote Los Altos Hills Mayor Toni Casey. Through her efforts, Los Altos Hills residents gathered for a candlelight vigil Friday at the Community Plaza in Los Altos.

She plans a proclamation “of our unity in supporting our president” at 6 p.m., Thursday, at the start of the regular council meeting. “We will also have a moment of silence for this enormous loss of life in such a senseless and tragic moment in our history,” Casey said.