9/11 Memorial Links

I previously posted this image on 9/11/2005. Obviously it isn't mine. But I wanted to post it, again. I may add some memorial links. But commenters should feel free to post their tribute links below so we can all share them and this day.

The video I linked earlier is up now.

Comments

[Sissy Willis]

Watched Fox reruns this morning. Heart stopping. Important to keep reminding ourselves. Your image above is astonishing.

Here's one of my own tribute/cogitations I stumbled upon this morning. Not bad. Not bad at all:

A virtual lamp beside the golden door
http://sisu.typepad.com/sisu/2006/09/a_virtual_lamp_.html

[Ran]

God bless you, Dan.

http://ifyouseekpeace.blogspot.com/2009/09/liberty-and-its-enemies.html

Still hurts. Thanks.

[Lala]

I got up pretty early today around sevenish. And what do I hear but fire engines, sirens blasting, one after the other. I stepped outside in the rain to see which way they were heading. West, toward the city, just like that day. Turned the news on with dread. Nothing on the news thankfully. Hopefully it was just a fire or some other emergency with no injuries.

[Lala]

My husband is a retired NYC firefighter. The following article is a fitting tribute to the police and firefighters.

Friday, September 11, 2009
Recalling the Heroes Who Risked It All for Their Fellow Citizens
by Michael P. Tremoglie
Tea Time Blog

Police, fire personnel, emergency medical technicians, and the military are often referred to collectively as the "uniformed services." But they share more than just a name. As novelist W.E.B. Griffin writes, they "share a number of unique traits: astonishing courage, loyalty, and camaraderie . . . like no other profession."

Griffin omitted something.

Each day members of the uniform services report on duty knowing there is a possibility that they may not report off.

They do it anyway.

Statistically, there are some occupations which are more dangerous such as a convenience store clerk or cab driver or bartender. The difference is that uniformed personnel place themselves at risk willingly - knowingly.

They are never called when all is well. They are called only to protect the lives of their fellow citizens. They know that in the process their own lives may be in jeopardy.

They do it anyway.

They do it because that is who and what they are.

When members of the uniformed services entered the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001, they did so not because they were trained to do so. They did so because of their character. They knew the risks. They did so knowing the possible consequences. They'd done it before.

They did it anyway.

They knew what they were getting into when they arrived at the World Trade Center. They got there quickly and went to work to help those trapped inside the buildings.

Wharton Business School graduates were rescued by those who could not afford to attend such a distinguished Ivy League institution. There were rescuers on the 82d floor when the building collapsed - a place the rescuers ordinarily might not be permitted to be because of their societal status.

They went anyway.

They knew what was happening. They did not have to do it. They could have said, "Oops, sorry; just can't get there." They would still have kept their jobs. Nobody would have condemned them.

They did it anyway.

Fire personnel who were caught in the explosion, like the New York City Fire Department's John Morabito, who survived the explosion of the second tower - was still on the job, rescuing people, many days afterward.

Morabito already risked himself once. But he continued to do it anyway.

I once rescued three people - and a dog - from a burning two-story building. I could not even conceive of what it would be like to be in a burning skyscraper. No training - no school or academy - can prepare you for something like that.

The uniformed personnel who ventured into danger in lower Manhattan and the Pentagon did not ask for gratitude. Neither do those who are - at this very minute - placing themselves in harm's way in Afghanistan and Iraq and places that we will never know about. They will not ask for plaudits.

They do it anyway.

When you recall the reports of what the uniformed personnel did on 9-11, remember there was nothing in their job description that mandated they risk their lives. Certainly, they knew the hazards - but nothing required them to sacrifice their lives for those of others or for any benefit, monetary or otherwise, that would accrue. There were no bonuses for lives saved.

They did it anyway.

The next time you read or hear a news story criticizing uniformed personnel - from the liberal mainstream media; from the leftwing intelligentsia; from the Code Pink protesters; from the wealthy liberal elitists - remember that, despite the risks, despite the costs, despite the difficulties, despite the criticism from the chattering classes:

They do it anyway.
Posted by M. Tremoglie at 7:33 AM 0 comments

[WAHOO WILLIE]

Lala, I cannot imagine any other profession with a fraternity like firefighters. We can walk into any fire station, anywhere in the world and once we get over the language bump, be welcomed as a friend and brother. Ha, that language bump! I'm reminded visiting engine co 82 in da Bronx centuries ago and speakig southronese with those guys.... In short the loss of those 343 was felt just as keenly in houses all over the world as it was in every house in the boroughs. Here's wishing your hubby well today.

[Lala]

Thank you Willie. We have been welcomed in Germany and France by firefighters. It was fun, there's always someone who speaks English.

Dennis Smith (Report from Engine Co. 82) has an op-ed in today's NY Daily News.

New National Day of Service is no way to honor the 9/11 dead

By Dennis Smith

Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/opinions/2009/09/11/2009-09-11_new_national_day_of_service_is_no_way_to_honor_the_dead.html#ixzz0Qoj8IDjp

[WAHOO WILLIE]

@Lala, it was Smith's book that inspired me to go by 82's on a long ago trip through NYC.

[Ad rem]

Lala,

Thanks for the wonderful post.....and kudos to your husband's noble profession.