Retired General Secured North Jersey After Attacks

Retired Brig. Gen. William J. Marshall III remembers with clarity the moment the terrorist attacks of 9/11 struck home for him. 

“It was that night (Sept. 11) at around 9 p.m. I had just sent a platoon of men into New York City with tents and lights for workers at Ground Zero,’’ he said.

He had just returned to his Liberty State Park command post from meetings in New York City.
 He remembers telling his sergeant to “take care of the soldiers.” Marshall had been to Ground Zero several times since the attacks earlier in the day and knew the devastation the soldiers were about to see would be both painful and emotional and Marshall was concerned about their safety.

His 40-year career with the National Guard was devoted to ensuring the safety of those who work for him and whom he protects.

Marshall said he felt totally reassured when the sergeant turned to him and said, “Sir, have no fear. We’re going to do the job.”

Marshall, a 65-year-old Lake Hopatcong resident and a retired New Jersey Army Air National Guard member, was put in charge of security for all of North Jersey immediately after the Sept. 11 attacks. He ran a task force monitoring all bridges, tunnels and airports in New York City from Liberty State Park.

He was in New York City four times, including visits to Ground Zero, that first day. During that time, the command post was visited by New Jersey acting Gov. Donald DiFrancesco, as well as New Jersey State Police head Carson Dunbar and Adj. Gen. Paul Glazar, commander of New Jersey National Guard troops. 
The group huddled and formed a strategy for how they would supply 14-days worth of fresh food, water and medical supplies for emergency workers at Ground Zero. 

“There was no request out of New York City we were not able to do,” Marshall said.

Ten years later, he reflected on that life-changing day. Marshall said the attacks left Americans “feeling a tremendous sense of insecurity. This was a major attack in the homeland that still has repercussions.”

“They hit us at the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and in Shanksville, Pa.,” he said. 
“Think about it,” he continued, “it was the intention of those individuals to attack our ‘center of gravity’—our financial center, our military center and our political center (the White House).’

But, he said, in his opinion, the terrorists didn’t achieve all their goals. They can do what they want to our facilities “but the American people will rise above it. And they did.”

In the ensuing years, there have been lasting changes in American security because of the attacks, but Marshall said it may not be enough. He said Americans need to be more vigilant than ever when dealing with terrorist threats, because terrorists have become more adaptive in their methods.

“We can see that on a daily basis,” Marshall said. The processes and procedures of their plans of attack are to try and find a way to get around our security, he added.

Last week, a report was released showing how nine of 41 recommendations of the 9/11 commission, chaired by former New Jersey Gov. Thomas H. Kean, have not even begun to be implemented by the federal government. Of the nine, three of those recommendations—tracking foreigners who overstayed their visas or work permits, tracking explosives coming in and going out of the country and setting up an emergency communications system—are most worrisome to the safety-conscious Marshall.

He said the visa/work permit issue is most troublesome. “This is a vehicle used by our enemies on a daily basis. It gives them the ability to infiltrate different areas of the country and secrete themselves.”

Eventually, he said, technology will help by providing new forms of identification for Americans, but we’re not there yet: “We’re going to need a national credential. There’s no way of getting away from it. We’ve got to change these undocumented bad guys from infiltrating.”

After all we’ve been through, he said, some of the best parts of the American way of life, haven’t changed—including our basic freedom and commitment to service.

 “America is a pretty open society. That’s why we were the target of the attack, ” Marshall said, adding, we enjoy freedom of speech, freedom to gather and other liberties. 
“Who else in the world has the rights we do?”

He also praised the commitment of the men and women in uniform during 9/11 and since then as the country has battled wars abroad, “Every agency, including the National Guard, had a plan on how to respond and stepped up their roles and responsibilities to make sure it was done. While he empathized, he said people who “wear the uniform and are voluntarily put in harm’s way, have the greatest quality—selfless service without being compensated.”