posted on September 12, 2001 06:17:33 PM
I don't think we can possibly say enough about the heroism of the police, firefighters and medical personnel who responded to the tragedy. Many of them risked their lives and some paid the ultimate price. But many "ordinary" New Yorkers performed extra ordinary acts of heroism. A shoe store owner handed out sneakers to people making the long hike out of Manhattan in uncomfortable work shoes. The grandmother of one of my daughter's friends fell and was injured on the 92nd floor. A black man carried this Jewish grandmother all the way to safety. One of my neighbors was on the 78th floor, trying to find a working stairwell amid the smoke and flames. One co-worker found the stairwell and instead of just running, stood there and called everyone else to safety. My neighbor helped an injured co-worker exit. She required hospitalization and insisted that he accompany her. As the ambulance pulled way, the building collapsed around them. He said that if he had not gotten in the ambulance, he would have been buried in the debris along with some of his unfortunate co-workers. When the media tries to paint New York as a cold city filled with racial hatred, it is important to remember that there is a whole other side that doesn't always get told.
