Day 4 Essay-“Cataclysm, Heroism, Sacrifice and Survival,”

Stairwell Escape


“Cataclysm, Heroism, Sacrifice and Survival,”

I heard a chilling quote from the report from the 9-11 Commission, that the first casualty suffered by the New York City Fire Department was at 9:38 am and is was because the fireman was struck and killed by a falling casualty from one of the upper floors. It is beyond this writers comprehension…The man was struck and killed by a dead or soon to be dead human being. And he wasn’t the only one that day to die in such a grotesque manner.

We have heard tales of incredible sacrifice, devotion to duty, courage, bravery, desperate hope…heroism. All in the face of the most horrendous circumstances imaginable. In a cataclysm, in circumstances beyond what was conceived prior to this terrible day, people stood up, and gave of themselves…gave up themselves, to save others, to help others even if they were not going to be saved, but so that those final moments would be easier for that other person.

I have found those stories to be the jewels recovered from the rubble and ruin of the disasters of 9-11.This is the true lesson we can grasp onto when we look at this from the long view of history. That America and Americans, as a people are the most giving, self sacrificing people on this earth as a group. It has been proved out time and time again of the course of decades of our existence as a nation.

I wish I could name all of the names, that I knew all of the particulars of each story. But I don’t. I just know that as I have heard each one, that I have often gasped at the wonder of the self sacrifice and the dignity of so many that lost everything . From people who stayed with those that were too injured to escape on their own inside the World Trade Center, to the passengers of Flight 93, who very likely saved many lives by trying to retake the aircraft from the hijackers, to the army sergeant that rescued many people inside the Pentagon, instead of just saving his own skin. And should anyone wonder about our government officials,... refusing help and to be taken to a place of safety, the Secretary of Defense, Donald Rumsfeld was rescuing the injured from the flaming Pentegon just minutes into the disaster. The valiant efforts of the firemen, policemen and ordinary citizens to care for the injured and the bodies of the dead will go down in history as a collective finest hour… that as traumatized as they were, everyone did everything they could to help even as the buildings collapsed on top of them.

All of this heroism didn’t just happen. I believe that deep down in our heart of hearts, we as Americans are like this. We have been imbued with this spirit of shoulder to shoulder “can do” spirit from the cradle. It is in us to rise to the challenges thrown at us and to immediately “circle the wagons” so to speak, when disasters strike. We follow the code of the Marine, to never leave a brother or sister in arms behind in combat, and in a situation like this that means everybody. This very attitude is one that even though the hijackers stayed among us all of those years never quite understood. A full dozen people on Flight 73 each had a plan to thwart the hijackers. Their courage was not anticipated by the murderers. Neither was the way the country united against them so quickly and refused to allow them to disrupt our way of life.

The American People are the heros of 9-11 as well.

I also believe that it is the Spirit of God at work among us. How many of those that gave their all were people of faith? How many of those that courageously looked to the needs of others before themselves, even to the point of losing their own lives, knew that a greater reward awaited them. The testimony of the Righteous still speaks to us as those in the past speak to us today from years gone by. The example set by those brave men and women on that terrible September day should remind us that in the next moment an accounting could be made of us, and what we are made of deep down inside. I hope that I am ready to do as the heroes of 9-11 did, be selfless and courageous in the face of danger. For danger is all around us, ever knocking upon our door.