Friday marks the fourteenth anniversary of the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. The day is officially designated as Patriot Day as a way to remember the lives lost and to pay tribute to those the first responders who risked their lives to rescue the victims of the attacks. Here on campus, it’s a day that means a little something extra to at least two staff members.

“I was a senior in high school, driving to school when I heard on the radio that the first plane hit the Trade Center,” health science teacher Stephen Friar said. “I remember thinking, it’s going to take a lot more than that to kill our nation’s resolve.  Even before I was a fireman and still to this day, I’ll never forget how I felt that day, but also I felt compelled to serve in some capacity.”

Friar served as a firefighter and paramedic for the Dallas Fire Department before he came to work at the school. Every year, the Dallas Fire Department sends crews to New York to work some shifts for the New York Fire Department crews that lost men on 9/11. Since 343 firefighters died during the efforts to rescue those in the World Trade Center, Dallas FD sends 343 men to New York every year. Friar followed in the footsteps of his father, who has been a firefighter for 31 years and has served as a colonel in the Army for 30 years.

“Seeing the sacrifices he made to serve his country and his community gives me a sense of pride and respect for those like him,” Friar said. “Some people look at being a fireman as a glamorous job, or a title, but it’s much more than that, it’s about service to your community and helping those in need even though you never know what the outcome of the call we go on will be.”

Even though most Americans have an understanding of what happened on 9/11 and know the day to be a national tragedy, men and women who have worked as police officers, firefighters, and first responders see a different side to the day than the average American.  

“I don’t think we have a different attitude, we’re just more aware,” School Resource Officer Jerry Varner said. “In my line of work, there are still threats out there and we see those every day. We deal with things the general public does not see. We go home at night with things on our mind that the American people do not have to think about.”

Although Patriot Day stems from the biggest terrorist attacks on American soil, it’s a day of recognition that can be about more than remembering what happened.

“The anniversary is a unifying experience for the most part,” Varner said. “We all have different views and goals and objectives. It’s different cultures and ages and professions, but in the end we’re all one family.”