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Geidel continues search for his brother By BILL VARBLE An ex-New York City firefighter combing the rubble that was the World Trade Center on Monday still had found no sign of his firefighter brother. Ralph Geidel told his wife at their home near the Klamath River that he doesn't have the words to describe the scene. "He said it's indescribable," says Barbara Geidel. "Hell on Earth. He said the pictures on TV just cannot describe it." Memorial service for victims of terrorists at Perl The service will be at Perl Funeral Home Chapel at Siskiyou Memorial Park, Highland Drive and Siskiyou Boulevard, Medford. Pastor Stan Johnson of West Main Church will officiate. Geidel, of tiny Seiad Valley, flew out of Medford Friday to join New York City firefighters at ground zero to try to find his brother Gary, a member of Unit One, New York City's elite rescue force. Gary Geidel was among firefighters who rushed into the buildings Tuesday to rescue people shortly after planes crashed into them. He is listed as missing. Geidel's brother Mike, also a Unit One member, was already digging for his brother, as was the brothers' father, Paul, a retired Unit One lieutenant. Barbara Geidel says her husband has described the sounds, sights and smells and the masses of people working bucket by bucket to clear debris. "He said there are 4-foot girders twisted like pretzels," his wife says. "Concrete, glass, shoes, fires burning." Still, she says, he's glad to be there. "I can hear the difference in his voice," she says. "It's where he needed to be." Ralph and Barbara Geidel tried frantically for four days to get Ralph to New York City to join his dad and brothers when planes were grounded after the terrorist attack. They finally got Ralph on a plane out of Medford to New York by way of Seattle Friday evening. The couple's son, Ralph Jr., has joined his family members in New York. A U.S. Army sergeant, he flew to New York City Saturday after being stuck several days in Colorado with 30 days emergency leave but no way to get to New York. Barbara Geidel was born in the Philippines and grew up in San Diego. She and her husband live in a remote part of Northern California with their dogs, chickens and a parrot named Charlie. Ralph Geidel is an army veteran and a gold miner. Ralph Geidel took Barbara to see New York on a 1998 trip. "I keep looking at our pictures and souvenirs," she says. "You see the World Trade Centers from everywhere. Now they're not there ... "Ralph says where he's working is different than what they keep showing on the TV news. It's horrible, just horrible. Some of the images, people don't want to see." She says the family has been inundated with calls from the media. They turned down a request from Diane Sawyer to tell their story on ABC News, she says. "My father-in-law doesn't want that," she says. "He says it's not just about Gary. It's about all the other firemen. "He's seeing his sons and grandson digging to find his other son. He knew the guys in the firehouses. The fire department in New York is a giant family." Family members know the outlook for finding more survivors is growing dimmer. "Chances are not good," Barbara says. "But you can't help but hope." Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.