Originally posted at David Horowitz’s Newsreal.

Nine years ago, our country was changed forever. On a sunny September day, we were hit by a series of coordinated Al Qaeda attacks, killing almost 3,000 innocent Americans in cold blood. Much of that day will always be remembered with feelings of horror, shock, fear, and sadness. 19 terrorists hijacked four planes. The World Trade Center in New York City was first hit. The twin towers were followed by the Pentagon in Washington, DC. The fourth plane was allegedly intended to hit the White House, but passengers fought the hijackers and crashed the plane into a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The World Trade Center got the worst of the attacks, with the twin towers ultimately collapsing and destroying many other buildings in the area.

Across the country, we watched in horror as the towers collapsed. We cried as we saw people leap from the towers to their deaths in a desperate attempt to escape the flames. We listened in shock to the phone calls of the passengers on board the hijacked planes, and wept as we heard them tell their families they loved them one last time. So much of that day will always be a mix of grief, sorrow, fear, and anger.

However, there were also feelings of pride and unity that arose from the flames. We read the heroic stories and watched with pride as ordinary citizens went above and beyond the call of duty to help their fellow Americans. As horrible as 9-11 was, it reminded many of us of what makes this country so great.

This year, I wanted to spotlight just a few of the incredible heroes of that fateful day. Some of them were police officers and firefighters; others were ordinary Americans just like you and me. All of them gave their lives that day; all of them deserve to be remembered.

Moira Smith, NYPD

Officer Moira Smith was a 13 year veteran of the New York Police Department. She was married to another NYPD officer, Jimmy Smith, and had a two-year-old daughter named Patricia. Officer Smith had shown heroism in the line of duty before, earning the Police Department’s Distinguished Duty Medal for her actions during the Aug. 27, 1991 subway crash in Union Square in which five were killed and more than 130 hurt. She saved dozens of lives that day, and on September 11, she would selflessly risk her life again to help other victims get out safely.

“She was … oh, God …” Charles Barbuti, a lieutenant in the 13th Precinct and Smith’s friend, paused before continuing. “I would have to describe Moira as active, dedicated, courageous. We had indications that on a number of occasions she had come out of the World Trade Center, carrying people out, then gone back in. She had the opportunity to leave and she chose not to.”

… “She was a lot of fun,” Barbuti said. She was vivacious, she was fun-loving, she was a joy to be around. That may sound like a cliche, speaking well of people who have passed, but in her case, it was true. She made everyone around her feel comfortable. Everyone liked her. No one had a harsh word to say about her.”

Smith put her life in danger to rescue people trapped in the World Trade Center, and ultimately, made the ultimate sacrifice that day. She was posthumously awarded the New York City Police Department’s Medal of Honor for her heroism that day. Her remains were recovered in March of 2002, and an East River high-speed ferry was named for her. Of the 23 NYPD officers killed on September 11, she was the only female. She was finally laid to rest on what would have been her 39th birthday.

Welles Crowther

It was not Welles Crowther’s job to save anyone’s life on September 11. He worked for Sandler O’Neill and Partners on the 104th floor of the South Tower as an equities trader. At about 9:00 in the morning, he was on the phone in his office. His body would be recovered from the lobby along with NYFD firefighters. Having worked as a volunteer firefighter as a teenager, when disaster struck, Welles Crowther sprung into action.

They sat bloody and petrified — the lights out, smoke engulfing the room and pain searing through their bodies. There was no escape from where they were in the South Tower, in pieces after being hit by United Airlines Flight 175 as far as they could tell.

Then out of nowhere, a young man burst in and took control. In a strong, authoritative voice, he directed them to the stairway — which was veiled by darkness, wreckage and haze — telling the injured to get out and the healthy to help them down.

“I see this incredible hero, running back and forth and saving the day,” recalled Judy Wein. “In his mind, he had a duty to do — to save people.”

“He’s definitely my guardian angel — no ifs, ands or buts — because without him, we would be sitting there, waiting [until] the building came down,” echoes Ling Young.

Wein and Young were separated by a few minutes and a few floors that day, but they share a similar story and a single hero: Welles Crowther.

Both women credit the equities trader and volunteer firefighter with saving their lives and dozens of others on September 11.

Crowther has been credited with saving at least 18 lives that day, if not more. One of the people he helped escape, Ling Young, keeps a framed photo of him in her home. He exited and entered the building at least three times, helping evacuate trapped victims. He ultimately perished when he entered the building one last time before it collapsed with other firefighters, making their way up the South Tower with the “Jaws of Life” to free more people. His body was recovered March 19, 2002.

Welles Crowther was an investment banker, not a firefighter or a police officer. He could have easily just exited the building and got himself to safety with no shame whatsoever. Instead, he found the courage to go above and beyond what was required of him, helping many people out of the tower and saving countless lives.

Tom Burnett

Tom Burnett was the COO and vice president of Thoratec Corporation, a medical devices company. He had a wife, Deena, and three daughters. On September 11, he was on United Airlines Flight 93. After the plane was hijacked, he called his wife and found out about the attacks on the World Trade Center.

Mr. Burnett phoned his wife Deena four times. In the first call he told her about the situation on the plane and asked her to call authorities. The second time he phoned, he told her that he believed their captors were going to fly the plane into the ground. “The next time he called,” Mrs. Burnett said, “I could tell they were formulating a plan.” In the last call, he reportedly said, “I know we’re going to die. There’s three of us who are going to do something about it.”

Rather than just accept his fate, Burnett decided to act. He, and a small group of other passengers, decided to fight back against the hijackers. While the plan had been to regain control of the plane, they all ultimately perished when the plane crashed in that rural Pennsylvania field. Burnett knew that this was likely to be his fate, and chose to fight back anyways.

While we will never know the exact intended target of Flight 93, it’s generally accepted that the hijackers’ target was either the White House or the US Capitol building. What would have happened if they hadn’t fought the hijackers? What would have happened if they had decided to just accept their fate? If they had gone along with the hijackers, without fighting back? It’s a thought too horrifying to even consider.

It took incredible bravery that day to fight the hijackers, knowing that even if they did, it could cost them their lives.

Leonard Hatton, FBI

Special Agent Leonard Hatton was on his way to work that morning when he saw smoke and fire coming from the North Tower of the World Trade Center. He responded immediately, even though he wasn’t even tasked with responding to the emergency. From the roof of the Mariott Hotel, he reported the second plane crashing into the South Tower.

He then entered one of the towers, helping to evacuate victims until the towers fell.

He radioed the F.B.I. and relayed what he was seeing, one of his supervisors recalled, “then tried to pitch in and help as best he could.”

For Mr. Hatton, 45, that meant going into the burning buildings and getting people out. “He didn’t have to do that, but that was my husband,” Mrs. Hatton said. “He joined right in with the fire department to help people and gave his life for it.”

Special Agent Hatton was a veteran of the Marine Corps, a volunteer firefighter, and had a wife and four children. He must have been an extraordinary man — fighting fires as a volunteer firefighter, fighting for freedom as a Marine, fighting crime as an FBI agent, and finally, fighting to save lives when it wasn’t his responsibility. When everyone else was running out, he was running in.

Ronald Bucca, New York Fire Marshal

Ronald Bucca served in the Army for 29 years, serving with the 101st Airborne during active duty. He served in the Special Forces, Green Berets and the Defense Intelligence Agency, and was promoted to Warrant Officer, U.S.A.R, in 2001. After being discharged from active duty, he went on to join the New York Fire Department in 1978, eventually becoming fire marshal. He continued to serve as a reservist in the Army’s Special Forces. He was a firefighter for 23 years, and would become New York’s only fire marshal ever to be killed in the line of duty.

The last I had seen Ron was on August 12, 2001, where I worked with him during a special operations mission exercise, (very similar to the events that were to unfold a month later). And since we were supposed to attend WOBC together in October, we were in constant contact. He was a great man, and someone who I began to mentor off of.

Ron responded to the WTC attacks on 9/11. He was heading towards the 74th floor of the second tower when he was separated from his supervisor, who went to help a woman out of the building. Shortly after that the towers collapsed, he was the only Fire Marshall missing until October 23, 2001. They recovered his body close to one of the stairwells. He is the first Fire Marshall to be killed in the line of duty.

Ron had saved a number of people, by assisting them in escaping from the building. Make no mistake, Ron knew what he was getting into when he entered that hell. Besides being in the MI field in the Army, Ron was also part of the terrorism task force in NYC. He even had plans in his locker of the WTC’s!. And saying all that, the man ran into the building. For those of you who have not had the opportunity to visit my city, or the downtown area, I can only tell you that it is a city onto itself. The man is a hero.

Bucca made it all the way to the 78th floor before the building collapsed. His remains were recovered from a stairwell on October 23, 2001. In recognition of his military service and his heroism on 9-11, a US Army camp in Iraq was named Camp Bucca in his honor.