Sept 11, 2014: The real definition of HEROES

As most of you know, I'm not a sports fan.  I think there is way too much emphasis, on every level, on athletics in this country.  If scholastic achievements were recognized with the same celebration and hoopla as sports players get how much better would this country be?  But the thing that makes me scream at the TV (or radio) is when these athletes, who are paid millions of dollars, are referred to as 'heroes' for something they did in a game.  They are playing different games with various sizes of balls, nothing they do is heroic--not even if you make the winning play.  They are doing an advanced type of play that millions of children do every day, they are NOT special.  It's a game--it doesn't matter. 

The word HERO should be saved for specific situations: someone who risks harm to themselves in order to save another.  While the military and emergency services (police, fire and EMS) are by nature of their jobs frequently in these situations, they perform heroically while paid low wages and with very little gratitude or recognition on a regular basis.  And then there are the civilians who find themselves faced with danger and perform selfless acts to save another, sometimes recognized in the news, or in the ever present social media.  They aren't playing games, they are making a difference in the actual real world where things matter. 

Below is a reflection I gave at BuxMont on the 10 year anniversary.  While certainly I'm biased when it's my writing, it seems to deserve a repeat.

 



The Heroes of September 11

On September 11, 2001 a total of 2,893 people, excluding the hijackers, died in the World Trade Center. 2,482 of those people were in the wrong place at the wrong time. They were tragic victims, people like any of you, who went to work that day with the expectation of returning to their homes and families that night, but instead perished in the attacks on our country.

There were 411 other people from New York killed that day who fall into a different category than victim: the heroes from emergency services who chose to rush into the place where everyone else with any sense was racing to get out of.

It takes a special type of person to run into a burning building. You have to push aside your fear, defy every survival instinct that you have, to deliberately place yourself in circumstances that could kill you as you try to save another. Yet that’s exactly what those 411 brave men and women did. Not just because it was their job and they had to: many firefighters already off shift choose to jump on a truck instead of leave, or responded to the Towers even though they were off duty. As the situation deteriorated they knew they weren’t coming back out: before entering many firefighters received quick absolutions from two Catholic priests, and then they deliberately entered the burning towers.

On that horrible day FDNY lost 340 firefighters, 2 paramedics & a much loved FDNY priest. NYPD lost 23 officers, Port Authority PD lost 37 plus a K-9 officer. Eight EMTs & paramedics from private or hospital based ambulances also died. They died in the line of duty, attempting to save others. Their deaths account for 15% of the casualties—a high number for a group who deliberately chose to put themselves in danger. There are many stories of their heroism that day. They are the embodiment of the verse from the Talmud “whoever saves one life it is as if he saved the entire world.”

More of these brave men and women continue to die every day, suffering from the consequences of their tireless work at the destroyed WTC site, horrible illnesses from inhaling the poisons in the dust that was draped over Ground Zero for weeks. They also deserve our gratitude and recognition, their sacrifice for the greater good.

Ordinary people also gave up their lives for others as the Towers collapsed. There are many stories of co-workers, or even strangers, staying with someone who was injured or moved slowly, giving up their own chance to escape. We will never know how many people made decisions in those last moments that cost them their lives because they were caring or comforting another. They are the unknown heroes.

Webster defines a hero as : ‘A person of distinguished valor or enterprise in danger…a prominent or central personage in any remarkable action or event…’ The passengers and crew of Flight 93 personify this definition. They learned of the other attacks from cell phone conversations to their loved ones, they knew their plane would be used to take more lives, and rather than sit passively, or hope for a last-second rescue, they collectively took matters into their own hands, knowingly sacrificed themselves to prevent their plane from being used as yet another missile. They were the first Americans to defend their country on that terrible day, fulfilling a verse from John 15: “Greater love has no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.”  That sentiment can clearly be amended to laying one's life down for their country.

In Memoriam

To all those lost at
WTC & The Pentagon

To the brave passengers and crew of
Flight 93

who were the first Americans to fight back against the terrorists

To those who knowingly made the ultimate sacrifice

FDNY, NYPD &  PAPD

and to those whose efforts then are leading to their deaths now

WE WILL NEVER FORGET

 

 

As the world again faces a threat from extremist Islamics we will, sadly, be forced to take military action.  Unfortunately this will give more opportunities for real heroes, many who will never receive any recognition.  Please say a prayer, for not only those who are gone, but for the many who will be placed in dangerous situations in the future, and by their actions will truly deserve to be called heroes.

 

 

Blessed be   Laurie