Proud Tradition

I was very much aware of 9/11 when I took this photo tonight, having posted earlier in the day the American Pietà photo of Mychal Judge (designated as "Victim 0001,") taken by Shannon Stapleton of Reuters... It was the type of boat I photographed that took so many Irish across the Atlantic in the 1840s and 1850s to Ellis Island in New York. From there they headed for places like the Bronx and Hell's Kitchen where there was a chance of life....... And from there started, along with mainly Polish and Italian emigrants a very proud tradition of filling the ranks of both the NYPD and NYFD.....
A child dies in Africa every five seconds....Well over100,000 have been killed in Syria over the past year...and sometimes I wonder why there is so much hype about those who died in the World Trade Center....and yet I am very proud for those who took the boat and lived to father and mother a breed who would become special. I am emotional not for the fact that they died, but that they so willingly risked their lives and in so many cases gave the ultimate sacrifice for others....... They are the heroes out there we know of.....
and we should not forget others heroes in our lives who also make sacrifices without the the benefit of flags and pipes to mark their passing....