This Is Courage

It's 3:00 am on a frigid, dark winter night. A piercing alarm shatters the silence, and he has sped away on a truck, lights flashing, horns blaring, to respond to the emergency. At the scene all three floors of the building are engulfed in flames which are spreading to some adjoining apartments on either side. With selfless dedication and strong courage, he rushes into that raging, roaring inferno. He is a firefighter on a mission to save lives. But many people never think of the virtues which carry him through his difficult work. What endless stamina and courage it takes to race into a burning structure, alive with flames licking at him from many directions; to enter the interior filled with dense smoke, where the visibility is zero and requires him to wriggle on the floor, on hands and knees where it is less thick, to see anything at all... with perils of the floor collapsing under him. But he forgets the risks. He needs to rescue the trapped children, mother, elderly couple, or anyone hiding beneath a bed, in a closet, out of sight, behind a stove or refrigerator; or those stranded and crying by open windows where he leads them to courageously board the ladder to be carried away to safety below where paramedics can assess medical needs. Yet...so many times, he must face deep pain... those lives lost...no matter how hard he tried. This is courage. December 15, 2016 ~1st Place~ Contest: What Courage Means To You Sponsor: John Hamilton Judged: 12/20/2016 (In honor of my husband, a firefighter for 27 years who retired as Assistant Chief)