The Dying Firefighter
Courage Amidst Chaos: A Firefighter's Tale of Resilience
Lyrics
I saw the plane hit the building
I witnessed the impact of the plane on the building
The flames and the billowing smoke
There were flames and thick smoke rising
I saw the glass, paper, metal and stone
I observed various materials—glass, paper, metal, and stone—breaking apart
Everything shattered and broke
Everything shattered and fragmented
I was there with my people
I was present alongside my fellow firefighters
Engine Company 24
Specifically, with Engine Company 24
We rushed into the building
We hurried into the building
Got as far as the 35th floor
We progressed until we reached the 35th floor
The black smoke and the heat was like nothing
The intensity of the black smoke and heat was beyond anything I'd experienced
I'd seen in all of my years
This was unlike anything I had encountered in my career
With each step in that blazing inferno
Each step felt like facing an inevitable destiny within the raging fire
You could feel destiny near
Amidst the collapsing girders and other building materials
In the midst of the falling girders
I attempted to locate survivors
The sheet rock and God knows what else
Those who managed to reach the stairwells
I tried to find the survivors
Those who made it to the stairwells
I carried injured individuals to safety, albeit a chaotic street filled with debris
I carried the wounded to safety
When the second building was collapsing and only ten floors remained
If that's what you might call the street
Everything seemed fragile and collapsed easily, as if made of weak materials
With bodies and boulders and metal
All crashing down by your feet
I heard someone trapped under debris
As number two was collapsing
I attempted to free them but got caught in the fire
When only ten floors still stood
I was trapped under rubble, the flames engulfing me
Everything was falling around me
I experienced excruciating pain, and that was the end
Like it was made out of cardboard and wood
It was just then I heard someone
I've traveled extensively and have a crucial message to share
Trapped underneath the debris
My belief doesn't lie in politics but in the collective human race
I started pulling at something
I have faith in the inherent goodness of people, regardless of location
And that's when the fire got me
I was pinned 'neath the rubble
I have faith in my family—my daughter and my wife
And the flames were licking my coat
I hope no one else's father suffers the same fate to seek revenge for my loss
And the pain, the unbearable agony
While I may be hailed as brave, other firefighters elsewhere are equally courageous
And then that was all that she wrote
But I just wish I could tell you
-Before I am taken away
-That I've seen a lot of this world
-And there's something that I gotta say
-I don't believe in politics
-I believe in the human race
-I believe in the goodness of people
-In New York or some far-away place
-I believe in my daughter
-And I believe in my wife
-And may nobody's father be taken
-To avenge the loss of my life
-People may call me a brave man
-And this may very well be
-But the firefighters of Kabul
-Are just as brave men as me
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