INSIDE
A MIXED BAG OF FOREST GROUSE | OUTDOORS & REC, B1
September 11, 2021
WEEKEND EDITION
$1.50
Reflecting on a tragedy
Editor’s Note: This is the
second in a fi ve-part series by
EO Media Group looking at
the issue of the lack of workers
for jobs in Central and Eastern
Oregon — why workers
are not returning to previ-
ously held jobs and how busi-
nesses are pivoting to function
without being fully staff ed.
Employee
shortage
leads to
altered
business
models
Alex Wittwer/The Observer
Steve Ruth poses for a portrait at his Perry home on Wednesday, Sept. 8, 2021. Ruth was one of the many Salvation Army volunteers who went to New
York City to provide support to victims, families and fi rst responders after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
Businesses remain
flexible to survive
worker scarcity
during pandemic
Steve Ruth looks back at time spent volunteering
at ground zero following Sept. 11 att acks
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
By DAVIS CARBAUGH
and ALEX WITTWER
The Observer
L
A GRANDE — Steve Ruth
remembers the horrors of 9/11 all
too well.
The Perry resident, a member of the
Salvation Army, assisted in day-to-day
operations at the on-scene morgue at
ground zero and provided counsel to
workers and family members of the
casualties. Ruth does not consider his
actions heroic, but he was one of the
many volunteers who put their life on
hold to assist at the site of the World
Trade Center attacks in Lower Man-
hattan, New York, after the Sept. 11,
2001, terrorist attacks.
EO Media Group
LA GRANDE — Enter-
prise isn’t the largest town in
Eastern Oregon, with a popu-
lation of 2,052. But it’s just a
few miles from the ever-pop-
ular town of Joseph and its
vistas across Wallowa Lake
to the peaks of the Eagle Cap
Wilderness.
In a normal summer, Ter-
minal Gravity Brewing in
Enterprise would be busy
all days of the week serving
local, handcrafted beers
to patrons and traditional
brewpub fare. But due to a
labor shortage this summer
the company had to cut hours
during its lunch rush, and
close altogether on Tuesdays.
Natalie Millar, chief exec-
utive offi cer of the Wallowa
County brewery, said it’s an
inevitability that they’ll have
to close for even more days as
their skeleton crew of cooks,
servers and hostesses return
to school — high school, to
be exact.
“I just see it as what we’re called to
do,” he said. “We dealt a lot with the
public that was coming in to pick up the
remains of their loved ones. The coun-
seling stretched to many areas of the
gamut.”
Nearly 3,000 people were killed in
the attacks that day when 19 al-Qaida
terrorists hijacked four commercial air-
planes in a plot orchestrated by Osama
bin Laden. Two planes, American Air-
lines Flight 11 and United Airlines
Flight 175, crashed into the towers of
the World Trade Center before Amer-
ican Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the
Pentagon. The passengers and crew of
United Airlines Flight 93 fought back
against the hijackers before the plane
crashed into a fi eld, missing its intended
target in Washington.
Ruth, a Salvation Army business
administrator and emergency disaster
coordinator, fl ew in from St. Cloud,
Minnesota, to assist in the day-to-day
operations at ground zero. He spent 17
days on the scene in March 2002 as the
cleanup eff orts extended for nearly a
year after the attacks.
During his time at ground zero,
Ruth worked primarily at the on-scene
morgue providing grief and trauma
counseling to families, fi rst responders
and other workers on the scene.
See, 9/11/Page A5
See, Workers/Page A5
Robert Giroux/Getty Images/TownNews Content Exchange
On the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, a coordinated terrorist attack saw two hijacked commercial airplanes crash into New York City’s Twin Towers, a third plane into the Pen-
tagon, and a fourth into a fi eld in western Pennsylvania. In the Manhattan crashes alone, 2,753 people were killed, and an additional 244 people died in the other two loca-
tions. The attacks were the most devastating terrorist activity to ever take place on American soil.
INDEX
Classified ...............B2
Comics ....................B5
Crossword .............B2
Dear Abby .............B6
WEATHER
Horoscope .............B4
Lottery ....................A2
Outdoor & Rec .....B1
Obituaries ..............A3
TUESDAY
Opinion ..................A4
Record ....................A3
Sports .....................A6
Sudoku ...................B5
Full forecast on the back of B section
Tonight
Sunday
46 LOW
74/46
Mainly clear
Partly sunny
BID FAREWELL TO SUMMER WITH A BARBECUE
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Issue 107
2 sections,14 pages
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