Heroes from 9/11

Last September 3, 2007, Officer Frank Macri of NYPD died of lung cancer that spread throughout his body. His family argues that the cancer is a result of hours of exposure in ground zero.

Officer Macri joins 23 other officers from NYPD and 341 FDNY firefighters whose presence during that fateful day gave their lives for their country

Thousands more men, women and children who lost their lives in 2001 when four commercial planes attacked different locations in the United States. Today, those events are called 9/11.

Chief and I were in our 1st Greenhome at Tran Nhat Duat, District 1, Ho Chi MInh City when CNN broke the news that the World Trade Center had crumbled to the ground, the Pentagon had been attacked and a third plane crashed in the fields.

We had just returned from work and couldn’t believe what was happening across the United States. We quickly thought of our cousins who were based in New York City and stayed up all night glued to CNN.

Much have been written about the men and women who died that day, specially the members of FDNY and NYPD. Documentaries and even a movie had been made in their memory. Am sure more entries in thousands of blogs on-line have paid tribute to these heroes.

Yes, the passengers American Airlines Flight 11, United Airlines Flight 175, American Airlines Flight 77 and United Airlines Flight 93 are among these heroes, together with the other men and women on the ground and the buildings struck by these planes. Photo credits from U.S. Navy photo by Chief Photographer's Mate Eric J. Tilford.

They represented over 90 nationalities across the world. Even today, people, including rescue workers suffer from lung disease brought about by extended exposure to dust from the WTC rubble.