My hat is off to the first responders. Let's not ever forget what they do.

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**I tried to avoid being overly graphic. Do you ever wonder how some of these first responders manage to do what they do? Yes, I realize they have the jobs they have--Paramedic, EMT, law enforcement, firemen (or firewomen), accident investigators, and clean-up crews...they have a HARD job. All of these plane crashes/incidents/whatever you want to call them, brought back some memories. The biggest one I recall, I was still pretty young, but it was so terrible--American Airlines Flight 191, from Chicago O'Hare to Los Angeles. An engine detached from the wing during takeoff, and it crashed on the runway. Everyone on board was killed, and two people on the ground, for a total of 273 people. The crash site bordered the nearby cities of Des Plaines, IL. and Mt. Prospect, IL. and involved many first responders from the entire area. It burned for a long, long time--it was fully loaded with 21,000 gallons of fuel for the trip. My cousin was then a 3-year fireman in Des Plaines and was called to this immediately. He is a strong and stable fellow and loved his job--he is retired now(he became the fire chief after a few more years.) But oh, that accident...the trauma from that was truly terrible for him, and for all the first responders. Forgive me here...but the firemen were there for a long time, trying to control such a big fire with all of that fuel everywhere. Yes, he had seen death and burned bodies before, but not on this level. Many of the bodies were (sorry) in pieces, and they would get part of the fire out only to have to keep going back and blasting more water on it all...and seeing it all over and over. This happened in May of 1979. Not much was available for help for the first responders then, in the way of helping them sort it all out in their heads with what all they have seen. You were basically told to take a little time, screw your head back on, shake it off, and move forward. Sound easy? Not after a disaster like this. Even though I feel mental health care is far from perfect, at least now they do see to it that the opportunity is there for the first responders after such terrible accidents. Nothing can erase what they've seen and experienced, I know. I simply feel like yes, they are out and about, doing their jobs. But there are many people who don't ever realize how much some of these people do, how hard it can be, and what they actually see. Not many people can do what some of these people do. I have always had a lot of respect for first responders. Today, I thought of the state of our country, all the things we hear about/go through/read about, and the work these people do. There is a National First Responder's Day every October 28th, but it is not really a well known fact. If you know a first responder, you know all of this...just a reminder for us all, that what they do is so important.