It was the king of love who

once said that there is no greater love than that of a person who will

lay down his life for another.

And that's why there will have

to be a special memorial to the firefighters and police officers who rushed

into the World Trade Center Sept. 11 when thousands of other people were

rushing out.

The argument might be made

that they didn't know for certain that they were going to die, and therefore

didn't lay down their lives in the biblical sense.

But they knew when they started

up those stairs that there was a better than even chance they wouldn't

come down alive.

And that's not even the most

remarkable thing about these heroes. The most remarkable thing is that,

other than the numbers involved, this type of thing is basically business

as usual for that rare group of individuals who consume their lives in

saving others'.

I've written on this subject

before. Years ago I went through some of the training that firefighters

undergo, just a taste of it so I could write an interesting first-person

account. It gave me an undying appreciation for just the physical effort

that's involved and the natural fears that must be overcome.

Over the years I've watched

firefighters and police officers at work hundreds of times, and I've never

ceased to marvel at the nonchalance with which they take on risks that

would immobilize most of us.

Regular and rigorous training

helps improve the odds of staying alive, but in the end there's no way

to be certain when you attack a raging blaze, rappel down a cliff to rescue

a stranded hiker or walk into a dark alley in pursuit of a dangerous criminal

that something won't go horribly wrong.

Of course there were other

heroes in New York, at the Pentagon, and most certainly on that plane

that did not reach its destination ... nonprofessionals ... people who

in most cases had never been in that situation before.

Most of us spend our lives

wondering how we would handle ourselves if suddenly confronted with the

choice of putting our own lives in extreme danger or leaving someone else

unaided in that same danger.

But there are legions of people

for whom that's not a question, because they do it every day.

And now we're preparing to

send yet another group of heroes into a struggle that will be every bit

as dangerous and will require the same level of sacrifice. And they'll

have to do something that will be even more difficult for many of them

than risking their lives. They'll have to kill or be killed in hopes of

preventing future killing.

God bless America? Absolutely.

But even more so, God bless these heroes.

And now, here's an idea: let's

show our patriotism and our solidarity with the victims by living our

lives.

I think it's great that Americans

are flying the flag and wearing the colors, and singing the National Anthem

and "God Bless America" with gusto.

Patriotic pep rallies are also

wonderful.

When times get tough, as they

are now, it's natural to get a psychological boost through collective

chest-thumping.

It's also helpful to use this

fervor to help raise funds for the victims. We all want to do something,

and so we do. We also want to do whatever we can to help fight the war

we now find ourselves embroiled in.

But if we really mean what

we say, that we're not going to let the terrorists win, why aren't we

flying?

Why are we calling off conventions

and business meetings, cancelling vacation plans, selling out of stocks,

delaying purchases.

In short, why are we letting

the terrorists win?

Hopefully, the answer is that

we are now beginning to go