Dig beneath the surface of the unsung heroes who are woven into the fabric of our everyday American life. They are our neighbors, co-workers and family …and we honor them.
CopFor a printable copy of this list, click here: Unsung Heroes
The First Responders
Anthea Appel
On the morning of September 11th 2001, two hijacked jetliners crashed into the Twin Towers. Within minutes of the attack, 36 Emergency Service Unit cops of the NYPD responded to the scene. They divided into six Teams. The first five Teams entered the Towers, and the sixth Team headed for the helicopters to attempt a daring air rescue. 14 of them would not survive. For the first time, here are the details of what the Emergency Service Unit teams did and saw as they climbed the burning Towers. Burden down with heavy equipment they searched for terrorist "sleepers," and survivors. Then the first Tower collapsed. Fearing that a second collapse was imminent, the firefighters and the police were ordered to evacuate. Now, the countdown began. In the harrowing final minutes, the police teams encountered everything from the absurd---including, the arrest of a mysterious man in the North Tower---to terrifying close calls. As the second Tower fell, tensions flared, bonds are formed, friends are lost, and tough and street-wise cops learn the true meaning of duty and heroism. In this book, other stories from the NYPD include the rescue of two Port Authority cops, P.O. Will Jimeno and Sgt. John McLoughlin, who were buried under the collapse of the South Tower; the first flag raising, and the nine-month search and rescue?and the recovery?at Ground Zero. These important and powerful stories have never been told...until now.
Read More View in CatalogBehind and Beyond the Badge
Donna Brown (Retired police officer)
There's so much more to a police officer's badge that all first responders wear. But that's what the world sees. What's behind and beyond that badge is what people need to know-the person. Those behind the badge may wear a different uniform, but they too have families and love their communities. Each one faces all that life has to offer.
Read More View in CatalogFirst Responder Families
Tania Glenn
Stress and trauma are in inherent in the public safety professions. When first responders are impacted by the negativity they encounter, their family members are often impacted as well. Yet somehow, the needs of families are often discounted or overlooked completely. "First Responder Families: Caring for the Hidden Heroes" was written to help families understand what to expect during turbulent times and to give them tools to mitigate stress and trauma. In this book, Dr. Tania Glenn writes not only as a clinician with over twenty-eight years of experience working with first responders, she also writes as a loved one of a public safety professional. Tying together the clinical knowledge and insight to create this book has been one of the most inspiring things she has done.
Read More View in CatalogLights and Sirens
Kevin Grange
A true account of going through UCLA's famed Daniel Freeman Paramedic Program?and practicing emergency medicine on the streets of Los Angeles. Nine months of tying tourniquets and pushing new medications, of IVs, chest compressions, and defibrillator shocks?that was Kevin Grange's initiation into emergency medicine when, at age thirty-six, he enrolled in the ?Harvard of paramedic schools”: UCLA's Daniel Freeman Paramedic Program, long considered one of the best and most intense paramedic training programs in the world. Few jobs can match the stress, trauma, and drama that a paramedic calls a typical day at the office, and few educational settings can match the pressure and competitiveness of paramedic school. Blending months of classroom instruction with ER rotations and a grueling field internship with the Los Angeles Fire Department, UCLA's paramedic program is like a mix of boot camp and med school. It would turn out to be the hardest thing Grange had ever done?but also the most transformational and inspiring. An in-depth look at the trials and tragedies that paramedic students experience daily, Lights and Sirens is ultimately about the best part of humanity?people working together to help save a human life.
Read More View in Catalog9/12
William H. Groner, Tom Teicholz
9/12 is the saga of the epic nine-year legal battle waged by William H. Groner against the City of New York and its contractors on behalf of the more than ten thousand first responders who became ill as a result of working on the Ground Zero cleanup. These first responders—like AT&T Disaster Relief head Gary Acker and New York Police Department detectives Candiace Baker, Thomas Ryan, and Mindy Hersh—rushed to Ground Zero and remained to work on the rescue and recovery mission, which lasted for the next nine months. Their selfless bravery and humanity were rewarded with horrible health issues resulting from the toxic stew of chemicals present in the dust and debris that government officials such as Mayor Rudy Giuliani and EPA chief Christine Todd Whitman had assured them was safe. Groner, a lead attorney in the mass tort litigation, fought for their illnesses to be acknowledged and for them to receive validation and closure, as well as for compensation—an eventual aggregate award of more than $800 million. As detailed in 9/12, the battle for the Ground Zero responders was waged not only in the courtroom but also in the press, in medical and scientific research centers, and among politicians at the local, state, and federal levels, as well as in the halls of Congress to pass the Zadroga Health and Compensation Act. 9/12 weaves together Groner’s firsthand account with glimpses into the first responders’ lives as they try to understand and overcome their illnesses. The result is an intimate look into their battles—physical, mental, and legal—that will leave you cheering for these heroes who, in spite of everything, would do it all again. Told by Groner and journalist Tom Teicholz, 9/12 is the story of the brave public servants who showed up when their country needed them most, of their fight for redress, and of their victory in the face of the seemingly insurmountable.
Read More View in CatalogOn the Go
Greg McCaffrey RN MICN MICP
After forty-one years of emergency services, the former flight nurse / paramedic recalls some of the most challenging, heartbreaking, and simply hilarious stories from a career working on an air medical helicopter out of a Northern California trauma center. Always described as "a great storyteller," the author writes these stories in the same great storytelling fashion, recalling the smallest detail and challenge of each scenario. Never knowing what that challenge is going to be in the next five minutes, laughing with friends, to crying in the corner of the room, follow him on his adventures of triumphs to tragedies.
Read More View in CatalogAmerican Heroes Coming Out from Behind the Badge
Greg Miraglia
Imagine working in a job you always dreamed of having and working in a career that excites and fulfills you in every way. Consider what it would be like to be highly successful in your work, admired by your peers, but always fearful that if anyone you work with discovered your secret, it could all be over. This is what it is like to be a closeted gay, lesbian, bisexual, or transgender member of law enforcement. And in the fire service and emergency medical services profession, the condition is even worse because of the common housing situation required while working a 24 to 48 hour shift. It's true that society as a whole has become more accepting of gay and lesbian people, but homophobia continues to be pervasive in much of the public safety arena. Most states still do not have any employment protection against harassment and discrimination based on sexual orientation. Imagine being fired from the job you love because of who you are. American Heroes Coming Out From Behind The Badge is Greg Miraglia's second book intended to show examples of how police officers, firefighters, and EMS professionals have been able to come out and be successful on the job. The stories come from across the country and tell of a very personal and courageous journey. They are intended to both inspire and educate. The book contains a section on how to come out as well as a section with resources and associations supporting LGBT public safety professionals. This book is ideal for anyone who is struggling to come out as well as for straight allies who want to learn more about how to support their LGBT colleagues.
Read More View in CatalogAmerican Firefighter
Paul Mobley
American Firefighter contains the real-life stories of firefighters, from the most rural volunteers to the most sophisticated and technologically advanced metropolitan departments, and it also profiles the children and grandchildren of firefighters who have been lost in the line of duty as they honor and pursue a family legacy.
Read More View in CatalogSmokejumper
Jason A. Ramos, Julian Smith
A rare inside look at the thrilling world of smokejumpers, the airborne firefighters who parachute into the most remote and rugged areas of the United States, confronting the growing threat of nature’s blazes. Forest and wildland fires are growing larger, more numerous, and deadlier every year — record drought conditions, decades of forestry mismanagement, and the increasing encroachment of residential housing into the wilderness have combined to create a powder keg that threatens millions of acres and thousands of lives every year. One select group of men and women are part of America's front-line defense: smokejumpers. The smokejumper program operates through both the U.S. Forest Service and the Bureau of Land Management. Though they are tremendously skilled and only highly experienced and able wildland firefighters are accepted into the training program, being a smokejumper remains an art that can only be learned on the job. Forest fires often behave in unpredictable ways: spreading almost instantaneously, shooting downhill behind a stiff tailwind, or even flowing like a liquid. In this extraordinarily rare memoir by an active-duty jumper, Jason Ramos takes readers into his exhilarating and dangerous world, explores smokejumping’s remarkable history, and explains why their services are more essential than ever before.
Read More View in CatalogTrue Blue
Randy Sutton
After September 11, 2001, Las Vegas Police Sergeant Randy Sutton began soliciting writing from law enforcement officers-his goal being to bridge the gap between the police and those they serve, with a book that offers a broad and thoughtful look at the many facets of police life. Hundreds of active and former officers from all over the United States responded: men and women from big cities and small towns, some who had written professionally, but most of whom were doing so for the first time. The result is True Blue, a collection of funny, charming, exciting, haunting stories about murder investigations, missing children, bungling burglars, car chases, lonely and desperate shut-ins, routine traffic stops, officers killed in the line of duty, and the life-changing events of September 11. Here, officers reveal their emotions as they recount the defining moments of their careers. Some of the stories include: -Two cops' desperate search for a missing child feared kidnapped -The revival of the one-month old baby who was shot in the face in a drive-by shooting -A patrol officer's dramatic showdown with a hostage-holding gunman -On-the-scene details of rescue and tragedy during the 9/11 terrorist attacks
Read More View in CatalogThe Finest Hours
Michael J. Tougias, Casey Sherman
Documents the 1952 Coast Guard mission to save the crews of two oil tankers that were torn in half by the force of one of New England's worst nor'easters.
View in CatalogBulletproof Spirit, Revised Edition
Dan Willis
Suicide, depression, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), substance abuse, and many more emotional and stress-related problems plague the first-responder community. Hundreds of thousands of these brave public servants have unwittingly become victims of the professions they once loved. However, the suffering that results from a professional life of sacrifice and service can be prevented and mitigated. As a thirty-year law-enforcement veteran, retired police captain, and police academy instructor, Dan Willis has witnessed the damage of emotional trauma and has made it his personal mission to safeguard and enhance the wellness and wholeness of police officers, firefighters, EMTs, emergency-room personnel, and soldiers. Bulletproof Spirit offers field-tested expertise designed to be used by all first responders — and their families — to heal themselves and continue serving with compassion and strength.
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