How a Hard-Hit Town Heals

An artist envisions a memorial sculpture in the form of two figures aligned like the former World Trade Center towers, a tribute to the victims and the survivors.

He lends his pick and hammer to the mother of a man who was working on the 104th floor of the second tower destroyed on Sept. 11, inviting her to chip away. It feels good to do something, she says after a few strokes.

In Middletown, N.J., a commuter town 20 miles from ground zero, everyone heals in his own way. In one of the first--but far from the last--anniversary shows marking the terrorist attacks, a “48 Hours” episode called “Middletown, USA” chronicles the longest year in the life of an American town. Middletown lost 32 residents in the attacks, more than it did in World War II and Vietnam combined.

In detailing the resiliency of widows, children, friends and neighbors in this seaside community, the show strikes a hopeful tone without getting overly hokey.

One group of Middletown residents gathered toys, food and gift certificates for the families of victims, as well as volunteers to help with chores.

A group of widows has been lobbying Congress for an independent investigation of the attacks. When the measure finally passed the House, one widow remarked, “Small victories help fill the void.”

At the local high school, where 11 students lost family members, a freckle-faced girl is joining the Marine Corps to defend her country. “I’m not afraid, I’m just eager,” she says.

Therapists are helping littler kids understand what happened.

An illustrator is drawing portraits of individual victims, free for anyone who sends in a photo. At a pace of one a day, she has finished 180, with 270 on the waiting list and her phone still ringing with requests.

The story of Susan Buhse, a widow at 32, may best exemplify the painful but necessary healing process.

“We were just living our life, doing what you’re supposed to do,” she recalls with disbelief. “We didn’t think about what someone else was doing somewhere else and how that would affect us.”

If her two children ask, she sets a place at the table or fastens an extra seat belt for their dad.

When ground zero was cleared eight months after Sept. 11, she held a party in her husband’s honor, a celebration of his life.

Buhse still feels cheated and angry, but she knows that she and her kids must make a new life.

“In time I’m going to need something new to do,” she says. “I can’t be a 9/11 widow forever.”

Although the next couple of weeks will be difficult, Buhse feels stronger than ever. “Sept. 12 will be a great day, a day of victory,” she says.

“48 Hours” airs at 8 tonight on CBS.