BACKHeroes Who Defy The Odds
By
Michael P. Tremoglie
Cops, fire personnel, emergency medical technicians, and the military are often referred to collectively as "uniformed services." But they share more than just a name. As novelist W.E.B. Griffin writes, they "share a number of unique traits: astonishing courage, loyalty, and camaraderie . . . like no other profession."
Griffin omitted something.
Each day members of the uniform services report for work knowing there is a possibility that they may not report off.
They do it anyway.
A couple of occupations are more dangerous. Convenience store clerk. Cab driver. Bartender. All more dangerous - but not by much. The difference is that uniformed personnel place themselves at risk with eager, professional heroism.
They are never called when all is well. They are called only to protect the lives of their fellow citizens. They know that in the process their own lives may be in jeopardy.
They do it anyway.
They do it because that is who and what they are.
When members of the uniformed services entered the World Trade Center, they did so not because they were trained like dogs to do so. They did so because that is the kind of people they are. They knew the risks. They did so knowing the possible consequences. They'd done it before.
They did it anyway.
They knew what they were getting into when they arrived at the World Trade Center. They got there quickly and went to work to help those trapped inside the buildings - people who attended colleges the rescuers probably could not afford to attend. There were rescuers on the 82d floor when the building collapsed - a place the rescuers ordinarily might not be permitted to be because of their societal status.
They went anyway.
They knew what was happening. They did not have to do it. They could have said, "Oops, sorry; just can't get there." They would still have kept their jobs. Nobody would have condemned them.
They did it anyway.
Fire personnel who were caught in the explosion, like the New York City Fire Department's John Morabito, who survived the explosion of the second tower - are still on the job - rescuing people.
Morabito already risked himself once. But he continues to do it anyway.
I once rescued three people - and a dog - from a burning two-story building. I could not even conceive of what it would be like to be in a burning skyscraper. No training - no school or academy - can prepare you for something like that.
The uniformed personnel who this minute are venturing into danger in lower Manhattan and the Pentagon will not ask for gratitude. It is rarely given to them.
They do it anyway.
When you hear the reports of what the uniformed personnel did, remember there is nothing in their job description that mandates they risk their lives. Certainly, they know the hazards - but nothing requires them to sacrifice their lives for those of others or for any benefit, monetary or otherwise, that would accrue. There is no bonus for lives saved.
They do it anyway.
The next time you read or hear a news story criticizing uniformed personnel - from intelligentsia such as Gore Vidal, who once said that the men and women of the uniformed services are recruited from the criminal classes - remember that, despite the risks, despite the costs, despite the difficulties, despite the criticism from the chattering classes, they do it anyway.
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Michael P. Tremoglie is a former Philadelphia police officer now a freelance writer working on his first novel. He writes for Front Page Magazine: http://frontpagemag.com/columnists/tremoglie/index.htm. |
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