Disaster Mortuary Operational Response Team<\/a>, which helps local agencies identify and recover human remains in the wake of large-scale tragedies.<\/p>\nLike so many people, Walsh-Haney remembers exactly where she was that morning: Discussing databases as part of a research project at the Gainesville Police Department. Walsh-Haney said there were two large TV screens in the office.<\/p>\n
![\"Screenshot](\"data:image\/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAQAAAADCAQAAAAe\/WZNAAAAEElEQVR42mM8U88ABowYDABAxQPltt5zqAAAAABJRU5ErkJggg==\")
<\/p>\n
“We saw the planes hit the towers. And my mentor at that time looked at me and said, \u2018We\u2019re going to be deployed, you\u2019ll have your orders tonight,\u201d Walsh-Haney said. \u201cAnd he was absolutely right.\u201d<\/p>\n
The next day, she was in a government-issued rental car on the way to New York City. On the drive up, Walsh-Haney called her dad, a law enforcement officer who ended his career as a federal agent. She asked him what to expect.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHe said, \u2018you can\u2019t be prepared for this, but I know you can do it. Be brave,\u201d Walsh-Haney said. \u201cAnd I got there, and then from the moment I was there, you\u2019re just thrust into the work.\u201d<\/p>\n
At first, Walsh-Haney was deployed to Ground Zero. But it quickly became clear the scene was not safe. Fires burned. Jet fuel covered the ground. Asbestos, mold, and crushed concrete filled the air. So, the decision was made to gather forensic evidence at the once-closed \u00a0<\/p>\n
Barges transported wreckage to Fresh Kills, where Walsh-Haney and others pulled 12-hour shifts, sorting through the debris. Not only did the crews find human remains, but evidence that was catalogued by the FBI, including wallets, flight attendants uniforms, and box cutters.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The memories are still vivid.\u00a0<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the same time, there are firefighters and law enforcement who have lost their friends, and they\u2019re bringing me, you know, five gallon buckets and asking, \u2018I found these remains next to a firefighter\u2019s helmet. I can\u2019t read the name. I think it\u2019s my friends. Here\u2019s his remains,\u201d Walsh-Haney said.<\/p>\n
The work was grueling. And there was more to come. Walsh-Haney grew up in a family of law enforcement and military. That\u2019s part of the reason why she became a forensic anthropologist. It married science and service into something that Walsh-Haney has dedicated her life to.\u00a0<\/p>\n
So did her siblings. Walsh-Haney lost two of her brothers after they signed up for military service. And three years ago, she was diagnosed with cancer related to her work at the World Trade Center.<\/p>\n
\u201cAs my friends kept dying or losing organs, I kept saying to myself, I was pretty lucky that I was there young,\u201d Walsh-Haney said. \u201cAnd then, lo and behold, it became my turn to stare cancer in the face.\u201d<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Even so, Walsh-Haney said she is honored to have been part of the response. And her work continues to matter.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Nearly 1,100 victims from Sept. 11 have yet to be identified. Last month, using a new investigative technique that incorporates genetic genealogy. Walsh-Haney is hopeful the evidence she collected 25 years ago will continue to bring closure for families.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI had no knowledge that this was history in the making,\u201d Walsh-Haney said. \u201cI just knew that I had skills. Our country needed them, and I needed to step forward to do it.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"LEE COUNTY, Fla. (WINK) \u2014 As Heather Walsh-Haney drove past the Pentagon on Sept. 12, 2001, smoke still…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":400114,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[14],"tags":[209,211,210,478,115],"class_list":["post-400113","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral","tag-cape-coral-headlines","tag-cape-coral-news","tag-national","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400113","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=400113"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/400113\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/400114"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=400113"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=400113"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=400113"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}