Thursday, September 11, 2008

If You're Feeling Old and Not Needed....

Today is the 7th anniversary of the horrific attacks on America we now call 9/11. I was watching a program on the History Channel regarding that infamous day when I heard a story that made me stop and write this newest blog.

On that fateful day, all of the fire hydrants near the World Trade Center towers were put out of commission by the collapse of the buildings. There was no water to suppress the fires that raged at Ground Zero. But this did not stop the heroic New York City firefighters.

Pressed into service was a fireboat called the MV John J. Harvey, built in 1931, a 268-ton, 130-foot long ship, which had been retired in 1994 and sold for scrap. Ready to answer the call, the Harvey (now renamed by the NYFD as Marine 2) was moored close to the WTC, and pumped up to 18,000 gallons of water per minute for 80 hours straight to thirsty pumper and ladder trucks, until hydrants could be made operational once again.

I would venture to say that nobody believes the Harvey was too old to meet the task at hand, nor not needed on that day in September, 2001.

May we all be like the Harvey, and "pump" everything we can into our everyday lives to make this a better world in which to live.

1 comment:

"Simplifried" said...

A great metaphor and a great story. many thanks!