So Quickly Forgotten

Many first responders risked their lives and some lost them on the day of September 11, 2001, but that does not appear to matter anymore.  In a recent article at Firehouse.com it was reported that emergency responders would not be included in this year’s 10^th anniversary remembrance ceremony.  A city official cited space issues as the reason.

While many fled from the scene at ground zero that day, the emergency workers from the FDNY, NYPD, the Port Authority, and other private and non-profit services ran into the fray with the intention of helping with little regard for their own safety.  While many of us are asked to potentially put our lives on the line every day, there has not been an incident of this magnitude on US soil since Pearl Harbor, and no loss of life of emergency responders has ever been seen before.

In the days that followed, search efforts were on going.  People worked 24, 36, 48 hour shifts in search of not only of their friends and coworkers but also complete strangers who were counting on them

Some responders from 9/11 are still “giving” to this day.  Many suffered great psychological trauma that still effects them 10 years later, and I don’t blame them.  An incident like that will change a person forever.  These sacrifices are often forgotten and need to be recognized and remembered.  If it was not for them the loss of life that day could have been even more significant.

It is a travesty that these individuals, no, these heroes are not being recognized at Ground Zero as part of the ceremony.  The emergency responders on the front lines that day have consistently gotten the short end of the stick from the government, and this was a great chance for them to take a step towards making it up to them, but once again they have let not only me down, but also the more than ninety thousand emergency personnel who responded on 9/11 and the days after it.

I urge every politician who is attending that day to give up their seat to allow a firefighter, an EMT, a paramedic or a police officer to attend.  That includes you, President Obama, and former President Bush.  No act would be more patriotic on that most tragic of days.

I wish there was something more that I could say, but I am overcome with disgust.