A Big Heartfelt Thank You

[caortel]

I was not sure what category to post this under but thought more of you would see it here.

I have just finished reading the book Report From Ground Zero. I have never been happier to have read a book. I kept a box of tissues near by as I read this most endearing, inspirational account of 9/11 through the eyes of those who were really there. I grew up in NJ for 35 years but now live very far from the city and east coast. When all of this happened it was difficult to live so far from all that was going on - I felt so helpless, so far removed. I still in my daily prayers pray for those families that are left to carry on the legacy of their heros, for the souls that now inhabit and look down upon the place now known as Ground Zero.

I believe everyone should read this book - whether or not you knew someone there, we were all personally effected. I do not have any firefighters or first responders in my family and have never really known one - but after reading this book I feel as if I knew them all. God surely knows where to put the character whe He molds the firefighter. I will be forever in their debt and they have my undying gratitude, admiration and prayer.

Thank you does not seem near enough to convey all that my heart holds for these men and their families - but it is all that I have. So from way out here in Montana, a big heartfelt thank you for all that you do and all that you are!
Carol Anne Ortel
Columbia Falls, MT

[Neil]

On Behalf of Firefighters around the world Carol Ann,
We thank you for taking the time to write your feelings
and express them in print. Dont stop writing , but keep on thinking about your brothers and sisters
in this world who are trying to unite all into one family, who care for one another.
Thank you Carol Ann


Neil H Donahue *** Fallen Brothers Foundation

[Jennie]

I echo your sentiments!! I read the book when it first came out and felt the same way. Not a day goes by that I don't say a prayer for everyone who was affected by this tragedy. The firefighter's heroism is an inspiration. I can only hope to conduct myself with the same integrity as they do on a day to day basis. I too live very far away(Seattle) from New York but I couldn't be prouder of the members of the FDNY. They are not forgotten in this heart.
Jennie

[Emily]

I don't know if someone who lives in another country can say they feel proud of the FDNY, but I certainly do. What they did that day is inspirational. Because of the time difference, the attacks happened late in the evening of September 11 over here, and the next morning, the Catholic Archbishop went on the radio to announce that he was saying a memorial Mass at the Cathedral at 12.30 that day. I went along, together with hundreds of others, and during that Mass I wept, and prayed for all the victims of the attacks, but most of all for the firefighters, who went rushing into those burning, crumbling buildings with only one thought - to save as many lives as possible. What courage it must have taken to have gone into those buildings, when all instinct would be telling you to get as far away as possible. But that's what those men did. And I can tell you in all honesty that, sitting in that cathedral on the other side of the world, I felt such pride in them, and their brothers who even as I sat there were at Ground Zero, searching for survivors. Reading Report from Ground Zero reinforced that sense of pride. Words can't express how that book made me feel, but I just know that the actions of the FDNY on 9/11 set a new benchmark for courage and dedication. You and your families are never far from my thoughts. God bless and protect you all.