Remembering 9/11 and Firefighters Lost

Its hard to believe that it has been seven years since 9/11. You don’t even need to say the year. You just know. I remember that morning vividly, the call from Mike at my office (Firehouse.com) saying ‘a small plane just hit the World Trade Center’. Pretty much those exact words. I hustled over to the office a half mile away from my apartment.

I don’t recall how long I was there. Maybe until the second plane hit the Towers, maybe the Pentagon strike. I recall talking to my news editor on the phone on the way telling him to get on a train to head to Manhattan — then telling him to forget it when the plane hit the Pentagon and scope of what the day was to be became clear.

Needless to say, my stay at the office was shortlived and I headed to the firehouse, as did just about every other member of the department. At 9:59 when the first tower came down, dozens of HVFD members watched it together in the dayroom. Someone asked me how many firefighters had just been lost. I remember saying 300, maybe 400. Sadly, I was right.

On Firefighter Nation earlier tonight I got a message from a social networking friend who runs Meet the Phlockers, a net for Jimmy Buffett fans. He mentioned that members of his site were thinking of firefighters on this day, and posted a Remember 9/11 candle image as their profile photos.

I’d been trying to think of a way to remember 9/11 appropriately on the site. I recalled how we handled things that day and the first few anniversaries at Firehouse.com. But with a social network, its more personal. So I took the idea from them, send a message out to all the members and told them to add the icon (above) as their profile.

And they did. Hundreds. Perhaps more by now. I’ve asked them to keep it as their profile photo at least through the weekend. I expect many will keep it there longer, perhaps forever.

Because one thing is clear as I sit on my couch tonight watching the History Channel and remembering what happened that day. That one thing is … We must never forget.

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