Heroes Continued

My thoughts yesterday just weren't complete when I think about heroes. It couldn't be complete at 1991 because 2001, the year the "World Stopped Turning" hadn't yet happened.  "Hero" took on yet another layer of amazingly unexpected depth. Nobody would have imagined or dreamed that when they woke up on Sept. 11, 2011 the events of that day would change their world and their life forever. But it did. It changed us all. We are approaching the ten year anniversary of the day forever known as 9/11, in just 2 days as a matter of fact.  We see 9/11 as more than a "day" but an "event". "When 9/11 HAPPENED..."  It's slightly easier to express that way, instead of "when the terrorists hijacked several planes and destroyed the lives of innocent people." It's certainly implied whenever we see or hear "9/11".

They say heroes aren't made, they're born. That was never more evident than the heroes who came to be on that fateful day.  Because I couldn't write some of these stories any better, I am borrowing from other sources. Mr. Rodriguez embodies the countless stories of every day common people who just went to work to do what they did without a thought that it might literally save lives of anyone around them.

                       William Rodriguez, is a native of Puerto Rico, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the State of New Jersey. On September 11, 2001, and for approximately nineteen years prior thereto, Rodriguez was employed as a maintenance worker at the World Trade Center (WTC) in New York, New York. On 9/11, Rodriguez  initially  rescued fifteen (15)persons from the WTC, and as Rodriguez was the only person at the site with a master key to the north tower stairwells, he bravely led firefighters up the stairwell, unlocking doors as they ascended, thereby aiding in the successful evacuation of unknown hundreds of those who survived. Rodriguez, at great risk to his own life, re-entered the Towers three times after the first, North Tower impact at about 8:46 A.M., and is believed to be the last person to exit the North Tower alive, surviving the building's collapse by diving beneath a fire truck. After receiving medical attention at the WTC site for his injuries, Rodriguez spent the rest of 9/11 aiding as a volunteer in the rescue efforts, and at dawn the following morning, was back at Ground Zero continuing his heroic efforts.
 ~ Profile from ABC News

Other people that day caught a flight expecting it to deliver them to a specific destination. Instead, were consumed with the realization that their destination was their forever destination. Every passenger who boarded Flight 93 faced that reality with a certain heroic response. If it weren't for those passengers, who knows how many more lives would have been lost.
   
                    Todd Beamer, who resided in Cranbury, New Jersey, was an account manager for the Oracle Corporation. He died at age 32 in the September 11, 2001 attacks on board United Airlines Flight 93. He is survived by his wife, Lisa Beamer, two sons, David and Drew, and a daughter, Morgan Kay, who was born on January 9, 2002 . nearly four months after her father's death.
                   Todd and other passengers had been in communication with people via in-plane and cell phones and learned that the World Trade Center had been attacked using hijacked airplanes. Beamer tried to place a credit card call through a phone located on the back of a plane seat but was routed to a customer-service representative instead, who passed him on to supervisor Lisa Jefferson. Beamer reported that one passenger was killed and, later, that a flight attendant had told him the pilot and co-pilot had been forced from the cockpit and may have been wounded. He was also on the phone when the plane made its turn in a southeasterly direction, a move that had him briefly panicking. Later, he told the operator that some of the plane's passengers were planning "jump on" the hijackers. According to Jefferson, Beamer's last audible words were "Are you guys ready? Let's roll." This term would later become the war cry for those fighting Al Qaeda in Afghanistan.
                Though it was a widely-held belief that the passengers crashed the airliner in an attempt to save the lives of others on the ground, the 9/11 Commission's findings (based on the "black box" cockpit recording) were that the passengers on Flight 93 did not cause the plane to crash intentionally. They burst into the cockpit and fought with the terrorists over the controls for the plane.~United Heroes.com I would HIGHLY recommend everyone check out this website and read the biographies of each of those on Flight 93. Many of them were heroes in their own world before they met their fate that day. 


It goes without saying, yet deserves to be said, that every single fireman, police officer, paramedic or soldier who RAN IN to the WTC or assisted outside, or took any step to care for others as they so bravely have since their training.. remain without a doubt amazing heroes. These men and women made a decision long before that what they wanted to do with their lives was invest in people because people matter. They were trained to do what they were called to do that very moment. And they did it. How can we say "Thank You" to anyone who bravely goes IN to the danger so that everyone else can escape with their lives barely intact.!?  That any one would continue to serve in that capacity on a regular basis is mind blowing to me. I am forever grateful to these brave souls who serve and protect their communities. 


The stories that are told are endless... 3,000 people lost their lives. At least that many heroes were "born" that day.. born out of necessity is probably most accurate. Nonetheless, nobody "made" them do what they did. They reacted with bravery, courage, and strength.