My person for the project is..
Thomas M. Butler
When I found out that he was a firefighter who had given his life so that others might be saved, I had shivers going down my spine. This was a man who cared more about others than he did himself and I feel like nothing I write here is going to even touch the awesomeness that was this man.
Some Basic Facts from the New York Times & Legacy.Com:
[+] He was a firefighter with Squad 1 in Brooklyn, and he had a part-time job as the bay constable in Smithtown, N.Y. Both on land and water, he was involved in keeping people safe.
[+] His son Patrick was christened on Sept. 9, and Firefighter Butler wanted to have a big party. Mrs. Butler was getting her usual ulcers about the cost. He insisted. He wanted to buy a suit for the occasion. Her reaction was, “Tom, do you really need a suit?” He got the suit. They had the party.
I remember one of the images from the days after 9/11 that really stirred up my emotions was a picture of a firefighter in their dress uniform, saluting as a casket went by, his face clenched up and tears streaming from his eyes. That picture has stuck in my mind for the last five years and doing the research to write this post brought it back to me. How painful it must have been for all the firefighters in the NYC area to attend all the funerals of their comrades and know that they went into a situation where there was no good way to come out alive! How awful it must have been for Butler’s family to find out that he had gone in though I know that they must be proud of him now.
Since I’m a khouria, here is about the best way I know to pay tribute:
From the Lutheran Book of Worship:
Into your hands, O merciful Savior, we commend your servant, Thomas. Acknowledge, we humbly beseech you, a sheep of your own fold, a lamb of your own flock, a sinner of your own redeeming. Receive him into the arms of your mercy, into the blessed rest of eternal peace, and into the glorious company of the saints of light. Amen.
and
Children of the heavâ????nly Father
Safely in His bosom gather;
Nestling bird nor star in Heaven
Such a refuge eâ????er was given.
God His own doth tend and nourish;
In His holy courts they flourish;
From all evil things He spares them;
In His mighty arms He bears them.
Neither life nor death shall ever
From the Lord His children sever;
Unto them His grace He showeth,
And their sorrows all He knoweth.
Though He giveth or He taketh,
God His children neâ????er forsaketh;
His the loving purpose solely
To preserve them pure and holy.
–LBW 474
Blessed be his memory.
