September 7, 2011 – a day set aside to honor the brave, courageous firefighters, who on September 11, 2001, rushed towards danger, instead of running away from it.

When I first heard and read reports about firefighters running up stairs, running into the World Trade Center buildings, I was frankly amazed. Truthfully, job or no job, I would have tried to save my own skin. There does not appear to be much hope, why add my life to those lost? Maybe I can be more effective, if I try to help outside of the buildings? If many others are honest, they will admit the same thing. Ironies of ironies – as I am typing this, I am hearing a fire truck going by, sirens blaring, on the way to saving lives and/or structures.

Those firefighters, those first responders, did their jobs on 9/11. This just triggered a memory. I remember that there was a debate whether the firefighters who perished trying to save lives were really heroes. Although I do not generally use swear words, I liberally employed the “I” word (for idiot), in describing the idiots who tried to besmirch the memory of the firefighters. I wrote in "Thoughts Of A Proud American":

Tuesday, 12/4/01

I was preparing for work this morning and I heard a fascinating discussion on talk radio, regarding the hero status of the firefighters and police officers who perished at WTC, on 9/11/01. There was some thought that these heroes, were in fact just doing their jobs, and should not be considered heroes. The armchair “anti-heroes,” who are sitting in their comfortable living rooms are the ones who should analyze heroism?

They may have a point. After all, don’t we all know that the “true” heroes of society are those who can make words written on pages spring to life; those who can swing a bat further than the next person; those who can murder and get away with it? It takes skill and talent, to perfect these “heroic” acts. The only “skill” exhibited by these firefighters, police officers, and emergency medical officers, was that of going into a building or two to save others. It was all in a day’s work. All that happened was that 400+ of them perished. Should these deaths be considered as hazards of the job, almost the same as a typist breaking a nail?

Give me a break! These firefighters, police officers, and emergency medical

technicians perform heroic services on a daily basis. The act of saving lives

during the slaughter of 9/11/01, resulting in the deaths of so many of those

“Life Savers,” elevates their performance to Olympian proportions. Their acts were not merely heroic, they were Herculean. I did not get to hear the entire discussion, but I hope that some sane people prevailed. What is annoying is that the discussion even came up. This is just one more sign that some of us are completely back to “normal.” Maybe some of us never left the state of “normal.” Some of us probably fall into the category of someone who was able to order a large pizza with 8 toppings about half an hour after the horror of 9/11/01 unfolded. Such a person would not let a little thing like the slaughter of fellow human beings, stand in the way of lunch.

I admit it. I got rather worked up about that discussion of heroism versus “just doing their job.” Ironically, those first responders were indeed, “just doing their jobs,” but they went far beyond, mere duty.

Let’s take a look at a few of the firefighters who were “just doing their job.”  What a coincidence? I came across Calixto Anaya Jr. , who was not only a firefighter, but also one of “my” Marines. From his bio, we learn that not only did Mr. Anaya do his job, he strove to always do “things right.” Another plus is that he was really patriotic. It appears that I may have made my case already!

If I said the name Joseph J. Angelini, I would probably have two firefighters answering to the name – if they were still here. Father and son who shared a name, also shared a profession.  They shared also the type of death that was thrust upon them. Mr. Angelini Sr., advised “carry your own weight.” I can bet on that day of his last rescue mission, he not only carried his weight, but probably someone else’s also. Mr. Angelini Jr., through no fault of his own, left one job unfinished:

Often they worked on projects together, including a rocking horse. Joseph Jr., who had three children, had started building a dollhouse for one of his daughters. Unfinished, it is sitting on his workbench.

When I came to the last sentence above, I almost lost it. I felt the tears beginning to assemble, but I pushed them back. I had work to do. Both Sr. and Jr. would have probably told me to work through it, and get on with the job. I am getting on, not with a job, but a “labor of love.”

Faustino Apostol was a “triple threat.” The following question was asked:

"Where'd you find a baby sitter who also mowed the lawn?”

I would make just one change:

“Where’d you find a baby sitter who fights fires, and who also mowed the lawn?”

 Atlas - Lt. Gregg Arthur, died a “hero to the end.” He huffed and puffed to carry his equipment up the stairs, into danger. The Tower was blown down him. He lived up to his Atlas name to the very end.

Bob Beckwith is yet another retired firefighter who came out to help, although he did not have to. The following sentences tell the story of the man, already dealing with the injuries of his grandson, but overruled his family, and responded where he thought that he was needed:

"I was just an old man, just getting older and enjoying my retirement. Then 9/11 came," he says.

"When I [found] out that his son was missing, I said, 'That's it, I'm outta here,'" Beckwith says.

Beckwith, 79, still lives in the same house in Baldwin, Long Island, that he has shared with his wife, Barbara, 77, since 1958.

Over the years, the Burn Center has received thousands in donations as a result of Beckwith's efforts, says executive director Gwen Curran. Instead of accepting speaking fees, she says, he asks for a donation to the Burn Center.

Though his speaking tours weren't self-motivated, Beckwith says his desire to keep the story alive is what inspires him to continue.

"He didn't just curl up and become a retired old man, so it keeps us young and keeps us moving," she says.

I have nothing to add, except to say “thank you, Mr. & Mrs. Beckwith.” I also have to add that I pray that the Beckwiths are granted even longer lives so that the Burn Center, can keep receiving those vital donations.

This journey that I appointed myself, to pay tribute for the period August 11, 2011 through September 11, 2011, is almost at an end. I am honored to have done it. I have learned a lot about physical structures, human emotions, heroism and life.

This recounting of the morning of September 11, 2001, by Fire Chief Jay Jonas is a great ending to my thesis that firefighters were not just “doing their jobs.” It also reinforces my appreciation for the quality, the caliber of both the folks who lost their lives, and those who survived, against tremendous odds. The following sentences, highlights are mine, will stick with me forever. They sum up the character of all involved, and provide a perfect example of being our brother’s keeper – each helped the other, to the benefit of all:

"One of my guys, Tommy Falco, turned around and looked at me, says, 'Hey Cap, what do you want to do with her?'" Jonas recounts, before a long pause, stressing his words. "Keeping in mind that every fiber in my being was telling me we've got to get out of this building, we've got to get out if people are going to live. But I looked at her and I said, 'Well, all right, let's take her with us.'"

So they hoisted Harris onto their shoulders and continued their descent, which was now greatly slowed. People scrambled past them. A couple of times they had to stand aside to let others pass. When they made it to the fourth floor, Harris was in excruciating pain. She dropped to her feet and begged them to abandon her. "She couldn't go on anymore," Jonas says with a sigh of fondness. "We weren't going to leave her."

After climbing 30 feet to safety from caved-in subways and subcellars, a few went to the hospital while others headed home to their families to recover. Jonas and his men realized later that Harris saved their lives too. The slower timing of their descent meant they were not in the North Tower lobby when it collapsed, where many perished. They called her their “guardian angel.”

Hollywood could not have written this script. I see the hand of God in this.

I am not sure why Ave Maria came to mind, but I am going with it. I want to dedicate the sheer beauty of this song to those firefighters, first responders, who save us from times when fires turn ugly, when once beautiful structures are turned into “ugly” rubble, in times when men – ugly in spirit – create death and destruction.

May God bless America.