Chaplain Goldstein

Chaplain (Colonel) Jacob Goldstein, State Area Command Chaplain for the New York Army National Guard, performed multiple Services at the site itself for a group or sometimes just for a single Soldier. He was one of the first chaplains at Ground Zero and served 146 days.

Chaplain Goldstein had these words to express his feelings of Ground Zero: "It is basically a big cemetery. But it is different, because it is a cemetery where people were murdered. It has had a very profound affect on those of us who were there early on, as part of the search and rescue mission. You are dealing with human remains that were not whole, things like that. That was tough, and the pressure was enormous on the people at the site, because you knew every minute counted. I have not washed my boots since I have been down there, because the dust is human remains." - Courageous in Spirit, Compassionate in Service/The Gunhus Years, Office of the Chief of Chaplains, 2003, Part Three: Operation World Trade Center, pg. 145.