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'We're going to get him out' Seiad Valley man seeks brother lost in N.Y. By BILL VARBLE Ralph Geidel is finally going to join the search for his brother Gary, who has been missing since Tuesday in the rubble of the World Trade Center. Geidel spreads family snapshots on the bench outside the Medford airport, and there's Gary, a rugged guy with a mustache. Ralph Geidel and his wife, Barbara, with a boost from the White House, finally got a flight to New York City, where Ralph is headed for ground zero. "I've been losing my mind," he says. Geidel, of Seiad Valley, Calif., is a former New York City firefighter. Gary Geidel is a member of New York City's Unit One, the department's elite rescue outfit. He was trying to rescue people in the first moments after terrorists struck the towers Tuesday morning and was apparently caught in the first building's collapse. "We're going to get him out," Ralph says. David Greenberg, another former New Yorker and Seiad Valley resident, awakened Ralph Geidel Tuesday morning to give him the news. Ralph's brother Mike, also a Unit One member, is already among those digging through the rubble day by day. So is Ralph's father, Paul, a retired lieutenant from Unit One. "He needs to be back there," Greenberg says. The Geidels were frustrated for several days by grounded planes and closed airports. During that time they worked the phones, trying desperately to find Ralph a way to New York. Barbara Geidel finally got through to the White House about 2 Friday afternoon and talked to a woman named Maria, a deputy director or agency liaison who never gave Barbara a last name. Maria made some calls from the White House to Medford on the Geidels' behalf. David Underwood, of Superior Air Charter in Medford, took one call. He tried everything he could think of, but with so many planes grounded and so many airports closed, he couldn't find a way to get Ralph to New York. But he told Maria that United was flying again out of Medford. "I felt terrible," Underwood says. "You're bouncing around the country looking for open airports. You can't fly from Point A to Point B." At 3 Friday afternoon, Barbara got a call from United Airlines. There was a flight. The Geidels were at the airport by 6 to catch a 7:05 flight to New York City by way of Seattle. Ralph Geidel is a Marine Corps veteran, an independent gold miner and a Seiad Valley Fire Department volunteer. "I came here to get away from the craziness," he says of New York City. The Geidels' son Ralph Jr., a sergeant in the U.S. Army Special Forces, meanwhile, is stuck in Colorado Springs, Colo. "He's stranded there," Ralph says. "He's got 30 days' leave. But some guy wants to gouge him $4,000 to get to New York. That's bulls--t. Army guys don't have that kind of money." Gary Geidel was doing what he always did Tuesday morning, Barbara says, trying to rescue people. "He went into the first building, and he stayed in it until it came down," she says. "This is a true-blue American family." It's the second time Gary Geidel has crossed paths with the World Trade Center. He was trapped there in a rescue attempt in the 1993 bombing there. Ralph is a former marine who was decorated for heroism in the wake of the attempted rescue of the American hostages in Iran. He left NYFD with a knee injury in the 1980s. His father, Paul, flew combat missions in Korea. Barbara Geidel says her mission now is to get Ralph Jr. in the air. Ralph Sr. figures to be combing through rubble with his father and brother Saturday morning. "There's always hope," he says. Reach reporter Bill Varble at 776-4478 or e-mail bvarble@mailtribune.com |
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