On the morning of 9/11/01 my daughter called and said, "quick Dad turn on your TV!!" and then hung up.

I could tell by the tone of her voice that something bad was happening, but couldn't imagine what.

I quickly turned my TV on and was shocked when I saw the second plane hit the twin towers.

I thought to myself, this can't be real and it has to be a Sci Fi movie. But after watching the further events unfold on that tragic day I knew then it was all too real.

The one thing that impressed me most that day was when a news reporter who was apparently inside the blazing structure stated, "NY firefighters are rushing up the stairway to fight the inferno, while frightened occupants are rushing down."

It wasn't long after, that both towers engulfed in flames came crashing down. I told my wife, a lot of brave men have died today.  

The one good thing that came out of that awful day was, the fire service profession, both in NY and this great country gained the recognition that they so justly deserve.   

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Since that terrible day I believe we have all grown closer together as well. We never know when something like that will happen again. I don't think anyone is prepared for that.
It definitely wasn't worth gaining recognition for a few years. I know that no one here in DC remembers or really cares. Everyone is too busy with their own lives.

Norm... You're right. It could happen any day. Being in the nation's capitol, we do a ton of training for it. During rookie school the classes are now sent to Anniston, AL to the FEMA's WMD Training Center for a week long class. Companies also do random drills when possible. After those bus bombings in Russia a few months back we were training for that within a few days. One day was a Metro(subway) drill under the Potomac River with DCFD and a few NoVa FDs in case of a train bombing in the tunnel where we had to work with each other. Two days later we had a bus set up at RFK stadium for a mock explosion with possible hazardous materials on board.

We are always trying to stay on top of our game here knowing that us and NYC are going to most likely be the number 1 targets for the next big attack. With the way things are going in this world now, it's pretty much a sure thing that it will happen again. I remember reading about a year ago about some middle eastern leader threatening that in the near future there will be an attack on Washington that will amaze the world. Hopefully we will be ready this time. But like you said Norm, I don't think anyone can be completely prepared.
I've noticed that Cops don't riducule Firefighters as much as they did prior to 9/11/01..per example:
"Cops were created so firemen could have heroes."

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