Community Corner

VIDEO: Ground Zero 'Was Like a War Zone'

Hopatcong ambulance squad member Judi Wolff detailed her experience responding to the World Trade Center with eight other residents just after 9/11.

Judi Wolff had a decision to make. But her son made the choice for her.

Wolff and eight Hopatcong ambulance squad members responded to the World Trade Center in the days after 9/11. On Sunday, the 10th anniversary of the attacks that killed thousands and shook the nation, the borough unveiled its memorial, which included two steel beams from the Twin Towers.

Several people tied to 9/11 spoke to the hundreds in the crowd. But Wolff's story might have been the most moving. The Hopatcong resident said she had mixed feelings about heading to ground zero, worried about leaving behind her family amid unconfirmed reports of more terror threats.

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Wolff said she wrestled with the decision until her 11-year-old son, Jason, gave her a reason.

"You have to go," Jason said. "That's what you're trained for."

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Wolff said Hopatcong ambulance squad members Sandy Toth, Denise Stone, Chris Neglia, Donna Stone, Rita Russonman, Dawn and Rob Tallaksen and Lindsey Savage also responded to the World Trade Center.

Wolff said the destruction was indescribable.

"It looked truly like a war zone that you would see on television," she said.

"It's not possible for me to describe what I saw that day at ground zero. The utter devastation was truly unbelievable. Ten years later we need to keep these thoughts in our minds."

Watch the video for all of Wolff's story.


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