Remembering The True Hero’s of 9/11/01, 14yrs later

Written by David Barckhoff

(This was written on Sept. 11th 2014 & then updated on Sept 11th 2015 then sent to Fox News & CNN)

"There is nothing stronger than the heart and mind of a volunteer". These are words to live by.

As we sit and think about the tragic events that occurred 14 years ago today on Sept 11 2001. Please keep in mind that the true hero’s that day and after are the emergency workers, soldiers, complete strangers and co-workers that cared more about saving others lives from harms way at the World Trade Center, Pentagon and United Flight 93/Shanksville, Pennsylvania, than about their own safety. Please take a minute to say a prayer for the victims and emergency workers who died and for those who survived. It is for them who showed America and the world what the true meaning of what America the Brave is all about, along with American resolve and American resilience.  

The Pentagon’s construction began on Sept. 11th, 1941. It took 16 months to be completed. 60 years later, on Sept 11th, 2001, terrorists tried to destroy it. They failed miserably. After two days of fire, the damaged portion of the building was finally extinguished, while the military and civilians continued to enter the Pentagon to work their normal shift with doing their best to resume their job duties. Then the cleanup and reconstruction began. The construction workers worked around the clock to complete all repairs and reconstruction in only 11 months. On Sept 11th 2002, like a phoenix rising from the ashes, the Pentagon fully reopened. The Freedom Tower replaced the original World Trade Center Twin Towers. A memorial and visitor center stands overlooking the United 93 crash site in Shanksville, PA. This tells the story of the heroic efforts taken by the crew and passengers to stop the terrorists from carrying out their plot to kill and injure more people in the Washington D.C. area. Their possible target may have been the Capital, Whitehouse, Pentagon or possibly another building. Shanksville and United Flight 93 has been considered the location of the first victory by America over the terrorists. This is due to the fact that the terrorists were prevented from completing their mission of using United 93 as a missile to attack another target in the Washington D.C. area.

American citizen’s came together that day. They came from all walks of life, all religions and from all nationalities and united to become one. They all did their part to heal the nation to recover from those fateful 102 minutes. They donated money to a victim and emergency workers fund while some donated blood, others made food and drinks for the emergency workers in New York City or in their home towns all across the USA. Some passed out American Flags. Emergency Managers began implementing their emergency plans, while others began the tedious process of rewriting their emergency plans. Other citizens joined the military or became firefighters, EMT’s, Police, Security, Paramedics, or other medical workers.

Anyone in the emergency services who took part in the rescue or recovery that day or during the following weeks or months (myself included), will always be haunted by those tragic events forever. Just like those who lived through Pearl Harbor, this is our generation’s Pearl Harbor. We will never forget those events. Once you have tasted smelled, touched, death and chased the devil to the gates of hell and survived, living takes on a whole new meaning afterwards. Life becomes more precious and meaningful. Emergency workers walk through “the valley of the shadow of death” everyday. “They fear no evil”. They and we freely give their lives so “others may live”. This is the motto we live by. Many emergency workers have since died from their service. Others have retired. Others still suffer from PTSD. The survivors will always carry with them the emotional scars from those terrorist attacks.

Emergency Managers “hope for the best while, planning for the worst”. They do their best to develop plans for preparedness, mitigation, response, recovery. They readjust those plans as the needs, strategy, tactics or circumstances change. There is only so much planning that can be done to try to cover as many different types of incidents as possible. On occasion an incident occurs that didn’t read those plans. Those are the events that can be described as being “all hands on deck”. Sept 11 was one of those events. Bravery and heroism are not just words for that day but were being carried out by many people “so others may live”. Thank you to all of you for your bravery, sacrifice, and heroism.

The Emergency Responders are instruments of those plans and policies. We train like we fight and fight like we train. We train constantly to hone our skills so that they become second nature, along with doing the skills safely so we can rescue people from harms way in the shortest amount of time. We train so that “when duty call’s, we can do the greatest good for the largest number of people in the shortest amount of time and hopefully in the safest way possible. In conclusion, “When Duty Calls”, the true heroes are the emergency workers, victims and military soldiers who give their lives selflessly so others may live and not the one’s who hide in shame to only save themselves.