Words from Into the Fire by Bruce Springsteen.
Into the Fire
The sky was falling
And streaked with blood
I heard you calling me
Then you disappeared into the dust
Up the stairs, into the fire
Yeah, up the stairs, into the fire
I need your kiss
But love and duty called you some place higher
Somewhere up the stairs, into the fire
May your strength give us strength
May your faith give us faith
May your hope give us hope
May your love give us love…
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OM6lw40VPLg)
By Dr. Andrew Roth, Booknotes #211:
What cannot be permitted to be lost is the heroism and sacrifice of those who ran not away but into danger that day to try to save others. Like Fr. Mychal Judge OFM, Franciscan friar, priest, and chaplain to the New York City Fire Department. Fr. Judge is an alumnus of St. Bonaventure University . . . Fr. Judge is the first official victim of 9/11 – Death Certificate No. 1. He ran into the burning buildings to give aid, comfort, and last rites to “his guys” the firefighters of FDNY. His daily prayer was “Lord, take me where you want me to go; let me meet who you want me to meet; tell me what you want me to say; and keep me out of your way.”
My wife Joan dined at the Windows of the World atop the World Trade Center on the evening of September 10th. The morning of September 11 she was participating in a NABE economic conference at the Marriott World Trade Center. She walked to the Hudson river, crossed to New Jersey by ferry, and joined four strangers renting a car to drive home to DC.