It is now the 10th anniversary of 9|11. A resident of the Pacific Northwest, I was a world away on the day of the terror attacks. A decade later, although my heart wishes, I can not be there again. But it was my honor to be there for the 5th anniversary. To learn. To pay respect. To remember.

In September 2006 I visited DC and Shanksville.  On September 11th I was at the twin towers site itself. Having never before been to the east coast, and with remembering 9|11 as the purpose of my trip, I started New York in the very early morning, walking the perimeter of the now missing towers. Taking pictures of people. Taking pictures of lives forgotten. Taking pictures of death remembered. I squeezed into my trip a week in Boston. And two separate trips to Gettysburg. My life, hardened by the streets, is forever changed.

My life has mostly been as a cop. A few years as a medic. A dispatcher. And pulling a hose here and there to fight a fire. I’ve seen public safety from behind and in front of most flashing lights possible. There have been so many times I’ve wished I followed a different drummer. But each morning when the cold sweats end, I go back to the streets knowing that again, the child who saves tomorrow may only do so because of a difference we make today.

It was the same thought on the minds of so many public safety members and American patriots on the morning of 9|11.

To every hero who paid the price September 11th … and every hero before and since, Rest in Peace. Your brothers have the watch.