As part of the 10th anniversary commemorating the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, 5.11 Tactical will honor Public Safety Officers involved in incidents on 9/11 and donate all profits from a special line of tactical clothing to three funds that pay tribute to those who serve.
The goal is to donate $250,000 to the FDNY Foundation for fire service and $250,000 for EMS operations, and $250,000 to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. “We are so grateful to the men and women who put their lives on the line for us on 9/11 and every day. This is one way for us to show public safety officers across the country that we will not forget their sacrifices,†explains Dan Costa, CEO of 5.11 Tactical.
5.11 Tactical is using a unique anniversary logo that honors the heroes of September 11, 2001. The emblem features the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and flight number 93 whose brave passengers prevented it from being used as a third weapon. Mike G., a 9.11 First Responder with the Department of Homeland Security explains “We were meeting with Dan (5.11’s CEO) to discuss new product ideas when the talk turned serious and we began reflecting on 9.11 and noted that 2011 would be the 10 year anniversary. I sketched an idea for the emblem on a napkin (literally) and the idea was born.â€
This logo will be embroidered on a special line of apparel created specifically for this project. To engage the public, 5.11 Tactical will donate 100% of the net profits from the sale of these apparel items to the three tribute funds. The idea is for people to purchase a logoed shirt, bag, hat or wallet and utilize the logo to engage others to ask about the cause and also contribute. The tactical clothing and accessory company has introduced this line as a way to pay tribute to our brave public servants by raising money for these funds. Anyone who purchases an item will make a donation to the funds and remember the heroes of 9/11.
Al Autry, Vice President of Marketing for 5.11 Tactical whose son is a firefighter explains: “We hope that this fund drive can be one voice in a chorus of organizations that will take this opportunity to show support and gratitude for our public safety officers.â€
All in all, it’s a great way to show your support. There are 11 items available. To get yours visit www.511tactical.com.
But wait, there’s more. At SHOT Show, 5.11 offered us one of these caps to give away to our readers. To win, put a comment with your 9/11 memories in the comments section below (use a valid email address). We’ll pick a winner at random tomorrow morning at 1200 GMT.
Tags: 5.11
I remember coming home from school and seeing reports on TV. Took me about 10 minutes till I realized what happened.
I was in California with my wife staying at a Cousin’s house on holiday from the UK. My cousin’s wife knocked on our bedroom door and said I should come and look at the TV news as there was bomb or something. Being British terrorism and bombs are something we are used to so I was slightly irritated at being dragged out of bed but being a guest I did not want to be rude and she looked a bit upset. I got to the TV a few minutes before the second aeroplane went in.
I have to say it is the most shocking thing I’ve ever seen. I am getting goose bumps writing about it now. My wife and I went out for a walk later on that day and I think we stopped and talked to pretty much every one we met. I’m not ashamed to say there were a few tears.
Apart from the fact that I don’t do god Alan Jackson’s ‘Where Were You When The World Stopped Turning’ pretty much nails my feeling about that day.
Our holiday was extended due to the ‘no fly’ policy and we eventually flew home 10 days later. We had a 12 hour stop over in Newark. You could still see the smoke coming up from ground zero.
A month later I attended a Highland Games in Murfreesboro TN on business. I was again impressed by the unity and quiet dignity that a still shocked nation showed.
The USA is not without it’s faults – but for 70 odd years it has guaranteed peace in Europe and has confronted evil around the world at great cost in blood and treasure. When evil people attack you it suggests you might be doing something right! I stand shoulder to shoulder with you.
I was in College – a 19 year old kid. I decided a few days that joining the military was what I needed to do. I enlisted right after I graduated.
I agree with the previous poster – the unity that happend after 9/11 was great for our country, but we seem to have forgotten it lately. I do still see differences, especially if I am traveling in uniform.
I was 25 already out of the military and sat slack jawed watching the news coverage. In the days following I was so proud of our nation and how we all pulled together.
I had been in an air refueling squadron for four years, stationed on the east coast. I remember walking into the scheduling office in my squadron and seeing everyone glued to the TV. A few minutes later the second plane hit and that’s when everyone knew. We kicked all non-gov civilians out of the building and then threw some crews together very quickly. I spent the next week sitting alert. When I finally flew we were refueling fighters over NYC and DC. The radios were eerily quiet since there was no commercial traffic. I can still remember the feeling I had, looking at the F-16s with live ordnance getting his fuel with NYC in the background and knowing it wasn’t a training sortie.
I remember telling my best friend that the pentagon had been hit by an air plane. The directly impacted him because his mom worked in the pentagon. After hours of not knowing her status we later found out that his mom just stepped out to go talk to some on the otherside of the building and as she reatched her destination the plane collided into her office. She barley missed it! Scary! She was a Col. In the USMC!
I remember like it was last week…We were on our HoneyMoon and on the flight to Madrid we had metal eating utensils. On the return flight home looking out the window at NYC’s smoke laden skies and handing the Stewardess back two barely used “SPorks”. Thinking ‘Major changes are ahead’.
I am from Poland. I was on holidays in carribean sea with my wife.
Some day, one gay came to beach and said, that plane crushed in WTC.
We disbelivie, it was impossibile.
I went to my room, and saw second plane crashed in second tower.
I spent rest of my “dream holidays” before tv watching what happened.
I really felt like I am “New Yorker” those days. Very sad.
I’m also from Poland, and remember that day vividly.
I was at home, preparing for a new semester in college, a friend called me
and said I should turn tv on. I saw horrible images from NY, that have been repeatedly shown on tv. At that moment it was obvious to me that it is
a begging of a war.
9/11 should never be forgotten.
I was a new police officer, 1000 mile from New York. I worked the midnight shift the evening before so I was sleeping when the attack occurred. I recieved a phone call, turned my TV on and began watching before the second plane hit. I remember wanting to get dressed and go to work. I felt like that was the only way that I might contribute.
Thanks for not forgeting!
I was in the National Guard, in between deployments so I was home at the time. I woke up that morning and my roommate had left the tv on. It was tuned to ESPN, so the attack had just started. I saw something on the news crawler at the bottom of the screen about a plane hitting the WTC. My first thought was about the bomber that crashed into the Empire State building in the 30’s, so I had an image of a plane stuck into the building like a dart into a board. Even if it was an accident, I knew it was a big deal so switched over to a news station. Shortly after that the 2nd plane hit, live on tv and everyone realized it was no accident. Not long after that, I had to get to my job as a manager at a fast food restaurant. Everyone, including me, expected me to get called up right away, so I got nervous every time the phone rang, half hoping it was the unit half hoping it wasn’t. It was eerily slow all day. No one came in to the restaurant for the first hour of business. The first person to came in was a woman who’s son worked at the WTC. Fortunately, he’d managed to get out right away. We were in drill, coming home from the field, when we first heard about bombing Afghanistan and starting the process of justice.
I was doing a psych rotation at the city jail. We did not have TVs so initially it was all word of mouth. We were then told to go home before all of the federal buildings were lockdown.
I had just come on duty working for our county sheriffs office by the time I got to the office I saw the second plane hit the tower. I could not believe what was happening to our country.my heart went out to all the first responders and then when the towers fell we lost a lot of brave men and women we were all wishing we could do something to help , then the way the country united was just amazing.Proud to be an American.
i happen to off that day and slept in late. I woke and just happen to turn the TV on. That was something I normally didn’t do. I couldn’t believe what i was seeing on TV. My wife works for the govt and I call her. She hadn’t hear anything about. i don’t think i have sat in front of the TV that much in one day ever. Very sad day.
I was in class when the teacher got a text message and turned on the TV. I knew I was going to be in the military-it’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. That day, though, I knew we would be going to war with somebody and that I was not going to be in the peacetime military that had existed up to that point. They brought the fight to us, but I, for my part was lucky enough to have the opportunity to bring the fight right back to his doorstep…literally.
Can someone elaborate on what charity 5.11 is talking about when they say “EMS Operations” the FDNY Foundation does not contribute to EMS causes (and AFAIK that includes FDNY EMS, which is almost completely seperate from the fire suppression side of FDNY). I’d like to thank 5.11 & Dan Costa for having the forethought to actually include EMS, we’re the forgotten service in almost every venue.
As many of you know I’m a native New Yorker. I had just turned 21 a month earlier and was home in my bed with my license plates from my ’91 Taurus on the night stand next to me. It had bought the farm on a friends block 2 weeks before and I finally had it towed but didn’t make it to the DMV fast enough, luckily the guy was kind enough to lock the door in my face as i walked up to it (what NYC story doesn’t go like that?). My step-mother came and woke me up saying that NY1 (a local 24/7-all-NYC news channel) said a plane had hit the Twin Towers, as my window had the best view of the whole skyline including every East River Bridge. I told her about the B24 that hit the ESB in the 1940’s and went to take a leak… as I’m coming out of the bathroom she goes “the other one just caught fire too” I said the two buildings are far apart at the top, maybe part of the plane hit both buildings… just then the news announced a second plane had hit the towers and I knew it was no accident.
The thing about the situation that was the worst for me was just a week before I had called the number on a flyer for an EMT class and signed up for it, I had made the decision to get involved in public safety but timing intervened. Also signed up for the class was Richard Allen Pearlman of the Forest Hills Volunteer Ambulance Corps, which I would join after starting my EMT class. Unfortunately I never had a chance to meet Richie, as I learned everyone called him, he was at 1 Police Plaza when the attacks happened, obtaining a deposition for the law firm he worked at. A call went out for people with first aid or medical training and Richie was able to ride to the WTC with some NYPD members who responded. He called his job and his mother and that was the last anyone heard of him. A week later there was a picture of him moving a woman covered in blood in a stair chair, shown on 2 pages in Newsweek. In 2002 when the networks’ idea of a tribute was thousands of hours of footage from “ground zero” we finally saw Richie on TV, he was wearing a pair of gloves and waving people away from the scene as he moved towards it. Luckily a medic had his VCR on and we were able to get the tape to his mother. Richie Pearlman never had the chance to get certified as an EMT, but since I learned his story he’s been my personal hero. That’s my 9/11 story.
Bill Murphy, NYC Paramedic
Winner Chosen. Look for an announcement soon.