Heroes of 9/11

September 11, 2001 changed how the world looked at itself. In one breath, the day gave us heroes of all varieties. There were firefighters, police, rescue personnel and medical attendants. Then there were the ordinary people who happened to be there and accepted the challenges dropped on them by a day of terror.

When we think of 9/11, the Twin Towers come to mind, but New York was not the only place that saw uncommon acts of valor on that day. Washington, D.C. and the Pentagon suffered the horrors of that day, and Flight 93 quietly plunged to the earth without fanfare.

When we think of New York, we tend to focus on the port authority police, NPD and FDNY. These were the people entering the Twin Towers when everyone else was going the other direction, but there were heroes who were already trapped inside the buildings. People like Adam Mayblum, who tore his shirt into 3 pieces, soaked each one in water and then braved the smoke, fire and darkness to assist his companions down and out of the burning building.

Less is said of the civilians at the Pentagon disaster, but they were there. They were among the people already in the building that ran through the halls getting people out.

Flight 93 was the last site of terrorism. It was the one site where only civilians were killed. People on the plane took fate in their own hands, knowing it would mean their death. People like Todd Beamer, Mark Bingham, Tom Burnett Jr., and Jeremy Glick took on the armed terrorists to keep the plane from reaching its target.

The date, 9/11, was filled with heroes. Each one of those heroes drew upon the courage inside of them to put the value of their life above that of another person. This event gave us new definitions for terrorism and heroics. It proved to the world that heroes come in all shapes, sizes and ages.