At this moment, I am watching the History Channel and re-living the horror of September 11.
And I am
ashamed that I neglected to think of sharing this on today's post:
One of my best friends (from high school), Kathy -- her husband, Vinny, was a NYC firefighter at the time of 9/11 -- and I remember, afterwards, Vinny telling me that he was AT THE SCENE of 9/11, when the buildings FELL... He said that he and his fellow firefighters arrived (from another NYC borough) just as the BLAST OF DEBRIS AND BLINDING SMOKE came upon everyone from the fallen tower, and he said that as the civilians were RUNNING from the scene, it was their JOB that
he and
his fellow firefighters were running
TOWARDS the Towers. He shared with me his grief and "GUILT" that he couldn't save his comrades, who were already in the Tower(s) nor save the WTC employees/workers; all who had been trapped and couldn't get out, and soon to be known as "fallen..."
After watching the tapes tonight, right NOW, on the History Channel, I regret NOT making this the
major part of my blog earlier today... To have known someone who was THERE with his NY Fire Department -- even though there was NOTHING that he, or his fellow fireman could do -- I am
honored to have heard his first-hand experiences to me all those years ago...
My hat is off to
Vinny and his fellow firefighters in his Company (I'm sorry--sadly, I don't remember his company's number). And I know that all of our respect is for Vinny and
ALL of the FDNY men and women who were there that day -- those who survived, those who sadly did NOT -- and I am also sure everyone reading this feels the same way today, as we did years ago, still feeling sincere gratitude.
We thank you, Vinny, and your fellow NYC firefighters. And I also thank anyone who is reading this and sharing this with
me.
Gloria