Wednesday, October 3, 2001
|
Wednesday, October 3, 2001 |
|
Where do we find so many heroes? By DAVE HAMRICK It was the king of love who once said that there is no greater love than that of a person who will lay down his life for another. And that's why there will have to be a special memorial to the firefighters and police officers who rushed into the World Trade Center Sept. 11 when thousands of other people were rushing out. The argument might be made that they didn't know for certain that they were going to die, and therefore didn't lay down their lives in the biblical sense. But they knew when they started up those stairs that there was a better than even chance they wouldn't come down alive. And that's not even the most remarkable thing about these heroes. The most remarkable thing is that, other than the numbers involved, this type of thing is basically business as usual for that rare group of individuals who consume their lives in saving others'. I've written on this subject before. Years ago I went through some of the training that firefighters undergo, just a taste of it so I could write an interesting first-person account. It gave me an undying appreciation for just the physical effort that's involved and the natural fears that must be overcome. Over the years I've watched firefighters and police officers at work hundreds of times, and I've never ceased to marvel at the nonchalance with which they take on risks that would immobilize most of us. Regular and rigorous training helps improve the odds of staying alive, but in the end there's no way to be certain when you attack a raging blaze, rappel down a cliff to rescue a stranded hiker or walk into a dark alley in pursuit of a dangerous criminal that something won't go horribly wrong. Of course there were other heroes in New York, at the Pentagon, and most certainly on that plane that did not reach its destination ... nonprofessionals ... people who in most cases had never been in that situation before. Most of us spend our lives wondering how we would handle ourselves if suddenly confronted with the choice of putting our own lives in extreme danger or leaving someone else unaided in that same danger. But there are legions of people for whom that's not a question, because they do it every day. And now we're preparing to send yet another group of heroes into a struggle that will be every bit as dangerous and will require the same level of sacrifice. And they'll have to do something that will be even more difficult for many of them than risking their lives. They'll have to kill or be killed in hopes of preventing future killing. God bless America? Absolutely. But even more so, God bless these heroes. And now, here's an idea: let's show our patriotism and our solidarity with the victims by living our lives. I think it's great that Americans are flying the flag and wearing the colors, and singing the National Anthem and "God Bless America" with gusto. Patriotic pep rallies are also wonderful. When times get tough, as they are now, it's natural to get a psychological boost through collective chest-thumping. It's also helpful to use this fervor to help raise funds for the victims. We all want to do something, and so we do. We also want to do whatever we can to help fight the war we now find ourselves embroiled in. But if we really mean what we say, that we're not going to let the terrorists win, why aren't we flying? Why are we calling off conventions and business meetings, cancelling vacation plans, selling out of stocks, delaying purchases. In short, why are we letting the terrorists win? Hopefully, the answer is that we are now beginning to go back to living our lives, and this period during which we've crawled into a shell is simply our way of mourning, and perhaps also catching our breath. Whatever the reason for it, it's time to pull out of it. It's time to show the world ... and ourselves ... what we're made of.
|
||