Salvation Army volunteer recounts 9/11 service, cancer battle on 25th anniversary

When the towers fell, Ken Tregellas left his twins in Wisconsin and flew to New York to serve as the Salvation Army’s Red Zone coordinator at Ground Zero, overseeing tents that offered meals, rest areas and counseling. The organization also supplied clothing, prayer services and emotional listening for a diverse crowd of responders and grieving relatives. Years later, doctors discovered stage 4 mantle B-cell lymphoma in his tonsils, linking his illness to the toxic environment at the site; treatment included chemotherapy, a stem-cell transplant and the drug ibrutinib, which kept him in remission until early this year.

The Victims Compensation Fund helped cover his medical costs. Today, Tregellas shares his experience with younger generations to keep the memory of 9/11 alive and to highlight the sacrifices made by responders.