What follows is the text of a brief speech I made this morning at the observance of September 11, 2001 held at the Falmouth Fire Station Headquarters:
On September 11, 2001, nearly 3,000 people lost their lives. Many of those individuals did so in the line of duty; firemen and policemen who put their own safety at risk to save others. People we call heroes.
What is it that makes a hero? It is often a call to something higher, something greater than ourselves: Duty, honor, helping others.
The Boy Scout oath begins, "On my honor I will do my best, to do my duty to God and my country..." It goes on to say "To help other people at all times..." Honor, duty, helping others - the things that make heroes.
For more than 100 years, the Boy Scouts have instilled these principles in our boys and young men. Principles that are practiced daily by our police, and fire and rescue departments. Principles that on September 11, 2001, gave men and women the courage to become heroes.
It is fitting, therefore, that as we honor the memory of those who died on September 11, 2001, we have with us today members of Falmouth Cub Scout Packs 41 and 43, and Boy Scout Troops 38, 40 and 42. These scouts will present to the Falmouth Police Department and the Falmouth Fire Rescue Department, flags, donated by the Cape & Islands District Attorney Michael O'Keefe, and by the Barnstable County Sheriff James Cummings. The Flag of Honor and the Flag of Heroes.
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