The firefighter-awareness that swept the nation after 911 was, in all it's grim earnestness, a darkly comic display of the media's realization that, "hey, there are some men under these rocks over here. Have they been here the whole time?" Manly men who like to hang with other men, shooting the breeze, until it's time to put on some heavy protective clothing, ride on a loud fast vehicle to a dangerous situation. I remember one particular picture from 9/11: a group of half-dozen firemen walking into the building. The youngest guy was looking up, and you could see in his face he realized he was probably going to die. The older ones just stared ahead