911 Tribute

This morning we are hosting a breakfast for the local firefighters and police officers in a tribute to 911.

"Never Forget"
 

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My 911 story is a good one showing how we all pull together when the chips are down. Back then I had just purchased a large mobile SWAT command center from a township in Central Pa. The news came over radio and TV we were all stunned. I had a young man (21 years) working here who was also a volunteer firefighter. He heard it and said can I take the command unit to New York? I said if you think you can do any good do it. Off he went with it. The alternator quit on I78 and he was towed off to a shop. The shop operator quickly got a replacement charged the battery and the rig was ready to go. My guy pulled out his credit card and the shop owner said "Your money don't spend here. Get going do some good". He and the guy with him spent four days at ground zero moving supplies and workers. He came back and told me the whole thing was heart breaking but he was glad he did it. In these time we need to remember to salute our flag not kneel for it. With all its faults this is still the greatest place on this planet. Oh, and the now not so young man just left for Delaware this AM to pick up a car for me, now has his own towing business.
 
I was at our main ambulance station when we heard of the first plane hitting,first thought what a horrific accident soon to realize it was no accident and between calls we were glued to the television,one more moment where you could ask "do you remember what you were doing when it happened" we shall never forget.
 
Even now, so many years later, I remember as if it were yesterday.

When the ambulance tones dropped, I turned off my office lights and by the time I made the 6 block trip to our ambulance quarters, I was greeted by several members - some we had not seen in months or years.

We called surrounding towns to confirm they were doing what we were - taking one rig but leaving another rig with a crew to handle the normal day-today calls.

At staging points, ambulance caravans were formed - ours went to the Hoboken ferry terminal.

Enroute and throughout the days and weeks afterward people volunteered whatever skills and resources they possessed.

Truck drivers who were not emergency workers used their trucks to block Turnpike entrances (and then opened the way as our red lights approached) so we would have a clear road to our destination.

Iron workers shut down their job site and loaded their cutting torches and tools and reported to staging areas.

In Hoboken, a waiter with a tray of free water circulated through the EMTs triaging patients ferried from NYC.

Days later, when we sent an EMT crew to assist at the pile, we were told to bring extra gloves. When I explained our need to the hardware store owner, he handed me every glove in the store - no charge and Godspeed.

Shortly every overpass sported at least one US flag.

So different from today.

This evening I will once again attend a memorial service for our townspeople and all those lost that day and in the years that followed.
 
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