To the Editor:
This letter is to commend the town of Patriot (the only town in our nation named Patriot) for holding a wonderful candlelight vigil on September 11th, honoring the fallen emergency personnel who rushed into the twin towers, disregarding their own lives to save others. Mike Jones opened with a prayer for peace for our nation, Deputy Dawson from the Switzerland County Sheriff’s office thanked everyone for attending, but the real message came from EMS Director, Robbie Meek. Robbie brought into perspective what happened on September 11th, 2001. He spoke of the firemen, EMS personnel and police who did not run from the towers, but into them. They left their families that fateful morning, just as we do every day, saying to their families, “see you tonight.”
Emergency personnel are a special breed, they do what they do because it is in their hearts to help others, no matter the cost. Robbie told the crowd that he knew if anything like that happens in our small county, our emergency responders will be there for us. Sometimes we do not think about the fact that they jump up from their dinner tables, out of a warm bed into a cold night or leave their children’s school programs, as they answer a tone of distress.
We need to remember all the lost lives of September 11th, 2001, and the families they left behind every day. Then we need to put our own situation into perspective and thank our local EMS, First Responders, Firemen and Policemen for what they do for us. If we have a disaster of any kind, they are the ones we will call.
Lowell Wayne Sullivan