[joebuck]

"Abruzzo's colleagues say the word "hero" should be reserved for the firefighters and cops they passed on the way down."

Hummmm, I would define hero as someone who unselfishly risks their life to help save the life of another. Under this definition, these 9 people are unquestionably "heros" and may God bless them.

[fnord]

bump to remember

[My Favorite Headache]

There is hope for humanity. Awesome story.Just awesome.

[boycott]

JFK said, "I am a Berliner."

I say, "I am a New Yorker."

Although I don't live in New York and I never have, I feel that every American that loves this country was a victim of the 9-11 attack.

We are all victims of what happened to our fellow citizens in NYC. The terrorists will learn that you don't mess with our families, friends, and fellow citizens.

Again,"I am a New Yorker."

I will stand and fight with my fellow citizen. The terrorists will learn that you don't mess with America.

[Shooter 2.5]

bump

[Incorrigible]

Bump

[Amelia]

"I've talked to each of them individually. What do you say, 'Thanks'? What does that mean? I don't know what to say to each of them half of the time," Abruzzo said. "They saved my life. I'm here today because of those guys."

Abruzzo's colleagues say the word "hero" should be reserved for the firefighters and cops they passed on the way down.

Incorrigible, great article! Thanks so much for posting it! Pokey78, do you have a ping list that would appreciate this? I think it's wonderful.

[facedown]

Bump it back up the board.

[pgkdan]

Thanks for posting this. We hear the word "hero" bandied about all the time these days...often meaninglessly. If anyone wants toknow what real heroism is they should read this story. God Bless these heroes.

[Brian Allen]

Pre-Easternization/Emasculation/Feminization American Men! [And some who've slipped by the cracks]

[Sir Gawain]

The Real Heroes Are Dead: A love story. [Colonel Rick Rescorla; MUST READ]

[Jerry_M]

BUMPED right back to the top so that many more can see it.

[bvw]

I watched the movie Midway last night ... how squadron after squadron of young men in lightly defended tordepdo and dive bombers went down in storms of flak, but managed to break the Jap Navy, taking out four carriers.

America doesn't lack for every-day heroes. But we do suffer bureaucrats overmuch.

In the wreck of the Twin Towers, hundreds of thousands of new non-accountable Federal Civil Servants have been and are being hired, and all to naught in comparison to what everyday folks do to preserve our Nation. And day-in-day-out they burden us with taxes and drag us through ineffective, ridiculous and demeaning searches at the airport.

We can not let that massive outburst of expensive, ineffective and non-accoutable bureaucracy be the legacy of the real heroes of 9/11.

It is to *us*, private industry, local police, individuals that the upkeep of domestic security is best and properly due -- and the *only* effective way. Rather than inflating the Federal Behemoth further, we must re-direct our efforts into shoring up and providing communications between the real men and women in this Nation.

[timestax]

Story must NOT be forgotten!

[FixitGuy]

Just...WOW!

another bump

[wtc911]

Abruzzo is a quadriplegic, and in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing, it took a group of co- workers and emergency workers six hellish hours to carry him to safety.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

In 93 I was crossing Liberty Street to a lunch meeting with a client who worked in 1 WTC. When the bomb went off I thought it was a transformer down in the PATH tubes (we all thought so). I went back to my office a couple of blocks away.

It took my client over three hours to get to the street, most of that time he was struggling to move his 240 pounds on a 5'7" diabetic frame down smokey stairs. He made it but never went back to work and died just three months later after the third or fourth heart attack.

A lot of folks who survived 93 ran out of luck eight years later.