We Must Never Forget September 11th
I really give a lot of credit to the Grand Rapids Knights of Columbus for their work in arranging a procession and memorial service in remembrance of September 11th. It was good to remind the community of the supreme sacrifice made by over three thousand Americans that day. It was also important to honor all of the public safety organizations throughout this country who are poised and ready to respond to emergency situations. What occurred in New York City, Washington, D.C., and in a Pennsylvania field that day could have occurred anywhere in this country. The frightening reality is that such a tragedy could still occur. September 11th was a real wake-up call to all Americans, especially our law enforcement agencies, EMS providers and the fire service. Consequently, we have improved our nation's security and all of our emergency services have benefited from numerous government programs. For example, the Assistance to Firefighters Grant (AFG) Program has been a tremendous success and over the years dozens of fire departments in this region have been able to purchase new equipment. A recent grant will allow Itasca County to build a state of the art radio communications system. A SAFER grant to the Virginia Fire Department allowed for the hiring of additional firefighters. On this website, ten area departments are getting help to buy new apparatus and equipment. The list of grant recipients goes on and on and in the end, all of our communities will benefit. We have improved much of our public safety systems since that terrible day, but we still have an awful lot to do. We must never forget that September 11th changed America forever, but we also have to move forward. We must remind all of our lawmakers (local, county, state and federal) that we still need funding, lots of it, to continue with public safety improvements. We also need to remind our communities of the valuable services we provide day in and day out. And finally, we must not forget our fallen brothers and sisters (I343 FDNY firefighters) who went to work on September 11, 2001 and never came home. To not continue their cause for improved procedures and public safety equipment would truly be a dishonor to them, to ourselves and to the people we serve. We must never forget September 11, 2001.