The moment American Flight 11 crashed into the World Trade Center North Tower at 8:46 a.m. (followed by United Airlines Flight 175 into the South Tower 17 minutes later) on a bright, sunny September 11 Tuesday morning, the mission of the Scientology Volunteer Ministers catapulted to a new level. The VMs were created in 1976 by Scientology Founder L. Ron Hubbard with the purpose of bringing into the culture “conscience and kindness and love and freedom from travail by instilling into it trust, decency, honesty and tolerance.” Mayor Rudy Giuliani was promised 300 VMs as an immediate response, and more than 800 showed up. The VMs were among the first nongovernment responders on site and among other things supplied the emergency personnel with food and support 24/7. The Volunteer Ministers were awarded the New York Fire Department’s Medal of Valor for their assistance to first responders at Ground Zero.
