On September 12, 2001, we collectively vowed as a nation to take into account all that happened the previous day. “We will never forget,” read signs from coast to coast. FDNY and NYPD ball caps sold in record numbers. Eighteen years later I want to make good on that promise. May we remember the companionship lost, the laughs now restricted to our memories, and the human touch that was severed on one of the darkest days in American history.
While we solemnly pay tribute to those lost, may we also cherish the living. I wish to honor all marines, soldiers, sailors, airmen, and coastguardsmen, but especially those who join the civilian law enforcement community after completing their military tour of duty.
Regardless of what our tough exterior communicates, we are people who love humanity. The nature of our work is a testament to this love. We respond to aid those in need when others freeze. We run to trouble when most run from it. Yes indeed, the law enforcement community in general exercises what is called the greatest gift; love. “So now faith, hope, and love abide, these three; but the greatest of these is love,” wrote Paul the Apostle in a deeply moving letter to those he cherished in Corinth.
Most people remember where they were on September 11, 2001. I was a patrol lieutenant serving as watch commander on swing shift in Orange County, California. I worked September 10, 2001 and arrived home at 2:30 a.m. on September 11. I was jolted by the news that greeted me when I awoke later that morning. I remained glued to the television all day.
One year later the Fountain Valley High School planned an assembly to commemorate the first anniversary of 9/11. I was honored when our chief offered my services to speak when the school asked for a representative from the police department. Trying to introduce meaning into the event from my perspective, I wrote a poem to share. It expressed what I believed then, and still believe today.
Of 2977 people who lost their life that day, 23 were from the New York Police Department, 37 from the Port Authority Police Department, 343 from the New York Fire Department, and 125 from the Pentagon. Countless others received long term emotional and physical trauma resulting from the day that will be forever etched in our memory. Moreover, hundreds, if not several thousand have since died due to cancers related to toxic exposure in the aftermath and cleanup efforts. The toll has been enormous!
(U.S. Air Force photo by Airman Sadie Colbert)
The poem that follows is a tribute to the police officers and firefighters who valiantly served the citizens of New York, in both life and death, on that tragic day. They are words of respect for heroes from United Airlines Flight 93 who forced the plane to the ground near Shanksville, Pennsylvania, undoubtedly saving many other lives in the process. They are thoughts to pay homage to the brave servants at the Pentagon, to all others who perished on September 11, 2001, and to those fighting the war on terror since that time.
Freedom comes with a price tag! Throughout history it has been purchased with an irreplaceable commodity, the blood of those willing to sacrifice their lives for the benefit of others. We do it because it’s at the core of our being. These are incredible virtues!
“Incredible Virtues”
Freedom wasn’t free
The price was sweat and blood
Freedom wasn’t free
Soldiers wounded in the mud
“Declaring Independence”
We shouted to the world
We sewed our stars and stripes
‘Old Glory’ was unfurled
Our nation has been growing
For a couple hundred years
We’ve had more highs than lows
More smiles than the tears
Then evil hit our shores
Twelve months ago today
We chose no other option
But to respond the American way
We responded with our courage
With allegiance and our might
We responded with our sympathy
With fury and our fight
On a single dollar bill
The bald eagle sits in place
With the olive branch of peace
And the arrows of war in case
9/11 shook our world
Even on the far West Coast
Note to other evildoers
We’ll defend what we love most
What we love most in life
Includes family and our friends
Two things that they stole from us
But it’s not the bitter end
We have three more they cannot have
Faith, hope, and love within
And since they are secure in us
Liberty’s torch will never dim
—Jim McNeff
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