The Spirit of America
by Richard Roeper, Chicago Sun-Times
I am the spirit of America.
I am the Stars and Stripes waving proudly from homes,
schools, office buildings and government centers.
I am New York City Fire Chief Peter J. Ganci Jr.,
Deputy Fire Commissioner William Feehan,
Second-in-Command Tom Von Essen and Rev. Mychal Judge.
I am the hundreds of yet-unnamed firefighters,
police officers and Port Authority officers
who are missing and will not be found.
I am the men and women who knew they were going to
die and thus jumped, choosing to have some measure of
control over the last breath of their lives.
I am the thousands of volunteers who have rolled
up their sleeves and donned surgical masks to
aid the workers digging through the incomprehensible
rubble and debris in lower Manhattan.
I am Michael Benfante, 22, and John Cerqueria, 36,
who carried a disabled woman down 68 floors of a
World Trade Center stairwell and placed the woman
in an emergency van.
I am the passengers aboard United Airlines Flight 93
who fought with their hijackers and brought down
the plane outside Pittsburgh, 250 miles from its
intended target in Washington, DC.
I am the dozens of passengers aboard the other
hijacked planes who called loved ones to say goodbye,
or tried to alert authorities.
I am President George W. Bush, doing and saying the
right things in the face of an unprecedented
national tragedy.
I am former President Bill Clinton and former
Vice President Al Gore, voicing unconditional
support for the President.
I am the members of Congress, standing united
on the steps of the U. S. Capitol and spontaneously
breaking into God Bless America.
I am New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, wearing a cap
and sweat shirt emblazoned with the logo of the
New York City Fire Department, standing
strong, calm and forceful while addressing the city.
I am the loved ones who are holding up photos on
television, pasting leaflets on the side of TV news vans,
and keeping vigil in the faint hopes that their mother,
their father, their child, will be found.
I am the crowds lining the streets of lower Manhattan,
cheering the rescue workers and truck drivers
and technicians heading to the disaster site.
I am the nurses and doctors who have come to
New York City to help.
I am the millions of Americans who have reached out
to friends with e-mails and phone calls to say,
"I hope you're all right, and I hope you didn't
lose anyone close to you. And if I havent said it lately,
I love you."
I am the thousands upon thousands of Americans in
Los Angeles and Denver and Phoenix and Detroit and
Philadelphia who have lined up to donate blood.
I am the electric ribbon of red, white, and
blue rimming the top of the John Hancock Center
on a September night.
I am the New Yorkers who have laid flowers and
hand-scribbled words of mourning at the site
of the disaster.
I am the construction workers who fashioned
stretchers from materials at their nearby work sites
and joined the firefighters and the police
in rescue efforts.
I am the Chicago-area firefighters who rode
in a caravan of recreational vehicles and
sport utility vehicles to New York
to offer assistance to their colleagues.
I am the people gathered at Riverfront Park in Spokane,
Washington, singing Amazing Grace.
I am the business professionals who have donated coffee,
food, hotel rooms, phones, and other services.
I am the journalists covered in soot and risking
their own safety so they can tell the world what
has happened.
I am the camera operators who stood strong and took video
and still photographs, even as people around them ran
for their lives.
I am General Electric, donating $10 million to the
families of emergency workers who have lost their lives.
I am the investigators who are working swiftly and with
precision to identify the terrorists and their accomplices.
I am the Pentagon workers who are not coming home.
I am Ronnie Clifford, who was trying to save
a woman's life outside the first tower,
even as his own sister was aboard the
United Airlines plane that was about
to hit the second tower.
I am the rescue personnel who toil to the point of
exhaustion, take a break and then get back to the most
grisly and heartbreaking work imaginable.
I am the millions of Americans who will mourn, weep, pray,
and never forget.
I am the spirit of America, and I am alive and strong,
and you can never kill me.
