~ Still Relevant ~

Today, the anniversary of the September, 11, 2001 attacks,

My Captain spent his morning at our local middle school talking to the tweens about that day, and terrorism, and rescue.  He talked about his role as the Task Force Leader of Maryland Task Force One’s, Urban Search and Rescue team.  He showed slides,

and gear,

and told stories…the real ones, not the ones spun by the media.  For the second year in a row, he spent his personal day off on this anniversary, trying to teach the up-and-coming generations some of the lessons our generation has learned.  Why?

Because he doesn’t want to repeat that kind of collapse rescue.

Desperately, he doesn’t want to repeat it.

He did the same thing last year, and the local news came and reported on it.  Here’s the link to that if you want to see My Captain on video:  http://www.myfoxdc.com/story/19516959/md-middle-school-students-receive-special-history-lesson-about-911#axzz2edym6b3m

It’s hard to convey to the next generation how our generation mourns the loss of innocence of America.   After all, they have never known an America that wasn’t constantly aware of the threat of terrorism.   How do you teach a group of people who are numbed by the violence in movies, television and media, that senseless acts like those of 9/11 are supposed to be rare?

Yesterday was My Captain’s normal shift at Fire Station 31, and in the late morning, he was called to a ‘bombing’ at our County Police and Fire Headquarters.

He and his crew spent a long hot morning essentially babysitting the area as the bomb technicians did their job.  Apparently a juvenile had set off an explosive device.   It didn’t hurt anyone, and by all accounts was fairly small.  But it was a bomb!  A stinkin’ bomb!  We’re not talking Mentos in a bottle of Sprite, either.  We’re talking a meant-to-hurt bomb.

When My Captain mentioned it to me later in the day…in an off-hand way…I was floored!  Why wasn’t this ALL OVER THE NEWS?!  The kind of mentality it takes to intentionally bomb a place…I can’t wrap my head around that anymore than I could wrap my brain around the events of 9/11.

But regardless of the ‘whys,’ and the ‘hows,’ and the ‘what-the-heck-was-the-kid-thinkings,’ one fact sticks glaringly out at me.  Here we are, a dozen years after that catastrophic loss of our country’s innocence, still dealing with this kind of thing, albeit on a smaller scale, right here in our backyards.  My Captain’s job as a rescuer is just as relevant now, as it was then.

And I fear, it always will be.