Ehrlich on Washington column, September 24, 2001

MEWS FROM Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. Second Congressional District of Maryland 1 407 York Road, Suite 304 Lutherville, Maryland 2 1 093 315 Cannon House Office Building Washington, D.C. 20515 EHRLICH ON WASHINGTON Week of September 24, 200 1 By Congressman Robert L. Ehrlich, Jr. The Best of the American Spirit Looking out on the smoking rubble at the Pentagon, or the heap of metal, wire, and concrete that suffocates Lower Manhattan, hope and optimism may seem out of reach. Indeed, not since December 7, 1941 has United States soil been the target of an unprovoked act of such destruction. But the tragic events of September 1 1 , 2001 have given rise to something which many Americans have only learned of in the stories told by generations gone by: the resilience of the American people in the wake of a national tragedy. Indeed, out of the ashes of Tuesday’s attacks have risen the remarkable stories of everyday Americans making extraordinary sacrifices. For instance, one New York firefighter lost thirty men from his battalion alone during rescue efforts at the World Trade Center. Remarkably, he has not deterred from his duty. Fighting physical and emotional exhaustion, he works relentlessly through the rubble day and night. Or the Captain of the Montgomery County, Maryland Fire Department, who led his squad of rescue workers 400 miles to the disaster site in New York City. Even patriots from Maryland’s steel yards have volunteered their efforts in New York and Washington, where, fighting through a fog of dirt and dust, they cut through twisted metal and steel in hope of finding life. Across the nation, scores of Americans, many of whom have never visited New York or Washington, line up outside hospitals and houses of worship to donate blood, or drop off a few spare dollars at the local firehouse. Across the nation, the American flag streams proudly over millions of homes, businesses, school houses, and general stores. Here in Maryland, dozens of retired veterans have scrambled to the recruiting offices in Bel Air to reenlist in the armed services. We will never forget those heroes who lost their lives so that others may live, including the firehouse priest in New York who died while giving last rites to a fallen firefighter. Let us not forget those men and women, hopelessly trapped on hijacked airliners, who summoned the courage and selflessness to attack armed hijackers, fighting just long enough to steer the planes away from their original targets: the White House and the U.S. Capitol. Many of us in Washington owe our lives to their sacrifice.