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Those guys are truly heroes of the highest order! I wish I had a poster...but I post that graphic whenever I get a chance.

Did you see CBS's 9-ll...about the probie that was being interviewed when all hell broke loose at the Twin Towers? If you haven't you need to. It breaks your heart...but it is something that I always watch to help me remember what they did to our country....and what heroes the fire fighters were!

Ya know, I don't watch much about that day. I have made myself watch the documentary made by those two French documentary guys.

That day is so very ingrained in me that it takes a breeze to bring it all back.

I'll share something I really don't talk about. I'll tell you about that morning and my experience.

On the morning of 9-11 I got up, put the coffee on, and turned on the news. That's my routine. There it was. The first tower was smoking and there was talk of the Pentagon being hit. I remember thinking, damn thats big, as I watched tower one burn.

I walked into the bedroom and woke my wife. I told her there was something big going on and she needed to come see.

We watched as the plane went into the second tower. As any fire fighter does, especially if you work high rises, I was climbing the stairs with those guys, thinking about water supply, collapse, priorities, and obvious loss of life.

I was climbing those steps in my mind when it collapses. I knew there were hundreds of fire fighters in those towers.
I know I should have been thinking more about the civilians. My heart was really with those fire fighters.
That morning is very fresh in my heart and mind. I lost my innocents that day.

I stopped in at my routine gas stop on the way into work. A young couple was laughing and flirting. I was upset but speechless. I was thinking to myself, your country just suffered the largest attack in the history of the nation, thousands of people are dead, we're at war, and you're flirting.

I spent the rest of the day in shock. A young woman entered the fire house, tears flowing down her cheeks. She hugged me. I didn't know what to do.

We hung up a large flag, lit candles, mourned our brothers, and prepared for war.

The next shift on my way into work. I stopped into the my routine gas station to fill up. My cell phone rang. My younger brother, who I'm very close to, called to tell me he was just three blocks from the towers when they collapsed. He was overtaken by the cloud of dust and caught in the stampede towards the bridge. He had two children and wonderful wife. I had no idea he was there.

Fire fighters are very close to this war. Many of us are fighting. Many of us are supporting our troops and their mission.

Thanks for this thread.

American Firefighters stand behind our troops and their mission.