Ken Tregellas' Story: The Unexpected Lessons of Ground Zero

Getting the Call

On September 11, 2001, Ken Tregellas was at home in Wisconsin getting his daughters ready for school when the first plane struck the World Trade Center in New York City. Like millions of Americans, he watched the attacks unfold on television. Tregellas, who oversaw The Salvation Army's emergency assistance programs in underserved communities, received a call to deploy to Ground Zero as the red zone coordinator.

The red zone was the innermost and most dangerous section of the disaster site. It was the area closest to the wreckage where search-and-rescue crews worked directly among the debris. Access was restricted to authorized personnel only. Coordinating relief efforts inside that perimeter meant getting supplies, meals, and support to the people doing the most physically and emotionally demanding work of the recovery, without adding to the risk already surrounding them.

"They were looking for experienced people," he recalls. "I was ready to go and wanted to help any way I could."

Tregellas' flight to New York carried just four passengers aboard a 220-seat jet. Commercial air travel had come to a near standstill in the days immediately following the attacks, and the empty seats around him were a quiet reminder of how completely the country's sense of normalcy had been upended. At Ground Zero, fires still burned beneath the rubble. First responders worked around the clock searching for any sign of those still missing.

What The Salvation Army did in the red zone

Tregellas oversaw teams providing meals, supplies, emotional and spiritual care to firefighters, police officers, construction crews, and volunteers working around the clock. Around the perimeter of Ground Zero, The Salvation Army tents became places where exhausted workers could replace melted boots, receive a foot massage, grab a meal, or simply have a normal conversation before returning to the "pile."

"They didn't want to talk about the tragedy," he says. "They wanted to talk about their families, their kids, everyday life, even if it was just for half an hour."

A truckload of socks

One moment still sticks in his mind: a truckload of children's socks. Rescue dogs' paws were burning from the heat of the debris, so volunteers slipped five pairs of socks onto each paw, letting the dogs work another twenty minutes before the socks had to be changed again.

"The person who donated those socks probably never imagined how they'd be used," Tregellas said. "But they helped."

The cost to the people who served

Now, in 2026, the emotional weight from serving during 9/11 alongside other Salvation Army volunteers still follows him. Six months after returning home, responding to more routine disasters became unexpectedly difficult. Witnessing the loss of thousands of lives at Ground Zero had fundamentally shifted his perspective. "It changed my empathy. I had to relearn that someone else's loss is still significant, even if it looks different from what I witnessed others experience during 9/11," Tregellas said.

The experience also came with a hidden cost. Years later, Tregellas was diagnosed with two rare stage-four cancers linked to toxic exposure at Ground Zero. Today, he is 14 years cancer-free, though he continues lifelong treatment through the September 11th Victim Compensation Program.

How 9/11 changed The Salvation Army's response to disasters

Looking back, Tregellas believes 9/11 transformed not only him, but also The Salvation Army's approach to disaster response. Greater attention is now given to the emotional well-being of responders, specialized chaplaincy programs, and caring for those who serve alongside those who suffer. For him, serving at Ground Zero wasn't just about providing food or supplies; it was about offering dignity, compassion, and hope in one of America's darkest moments, and carrying those lessons long after the smoke cleared.