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Perspectives from Ground Zero: (CLICK YOUR BROWSERS "BACK" BUTTON WHEN FINISHED)
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Exhaustion is like the flu here in New York - it is extremely contagious. Everyone near Ground Zero has caught it. You ask a policeman, a fireman, a rescue worker, a construction worker what they want most, and the inevitable answer is, "sleep."
Exhaustion makes one vulnerable, vulnerable to a host of things. It makes strong men weep and brave men cringe. There is a point when exhaustion permeates to the very core of your being, your actions become mechanical, your mind becomes numb, you operate by instinct - it is a most dangerous time because mistakes can be made that one normally would not make. In spite of this, I have yet to meet a policeman or fireman who has not been extremely polite. They go out of their way to make you feel welcome. In our attempts to help and minister we have been met with open arms. Indeed, these men and women are New York's best and brightest. I have met one man, a most remarkable man - Sgt. Anthony Direnzo. He, along with his fellow officers, has been on-call all the time. When he gets a moment off he sleeps, although it is but a few short hours. Still there is a twinkle in his eye and a heart that is big as the whole outdoors. He has spent over twenty years training these New York men and women. In a real, a very real sense he is the parish priest and the recruits are his flock. In this great crisis they took the academy recruits and put them in the field. They are not trained, they are not ready, but if you see them they stand tall and proud. For this we can thank Sgt. Direnzo and his fellow instructors. Still though, Sgt. Direnzo's heart is fragmented, for a part of him goes out with every academy police officer and he worries over them as a mother hen. I trust that nothing happens to any of them for it would break his heart. Small wonder that New York is in good hands.
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