David Miller served in the National Guard from 1985-2001. He grew up in the South Bronx. The following is an excerpt from a speech he made in 2006 -
"On September 11, 2001 along with hundreds of my fellow troops I went to Ground Zero. No one asked us. No orders were given. We went because our city, our country, our neighbours were under attack. And we knew what to do. Or at least we though we did.
I came home 10 days later. I wont tell you about the vivid images of Ground Zero. There's no need to. If you were there, you know. If you weren't there, there's no need to talk about it.
I want to tell you tonight about the people we call heroes. About the people you've read about in the newspaper for the past week who were invisible for the past five years. About the people who we applauded and put up banners for and wrote songs about and put into music videos and movies, and forgot about.
That they were abandoned in their hour of greatest need. And are still in growing numbers living in terrible physical and economic circumstances as they struggle with the carcinogenic effects of the toxic chemical soup Ground Zero became.
That they still have the dignity and courage and even now fight like hell to save innocent lives, even as so many of us are dying."
David Miller September 9th 2006