A Forgotten Victim
The Port Authtority lost an officer on September 11 who I don't think is recognized enough. He's not given much thought to by most because he's a not a human. But Port Authority k-9 Sirius was as much an officer as his two legged partner. He was a bomb detection dog and was on duty on the morning of September 11. When the first plane struck the tower his handler David Lim put him in his kennel and told him to wait..he would be back. Little did Officer Lim know he was about to be trapped himself by the collapse of the second tower. He was�trapped in a stairwell when the tower came down. But by a miracle he survived. I read in a book that Officer Lim could be heard saying, "Oh my God..my dog..I have to go get my dog." Sadly the other tower collapsed before Officer Lim could free himself. Sirius died in his kennel in the basement.
� On January 22, 2002 Officer Lim got a call that the remains of his partner had been found. He returned to Ground Zero to carry his friend out of the rubble. Sirius�was place on a gurney and covered with an American flag. Just as every other set of remains had been. All the work on the site stopped and respects were paid to a fallen comrade.
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A memorial service for Sirius was held a few months later. It was attended by over 400 other service dogs. Officer Lim was presented with Sirius' water bowl that had also been recovered from the site. Engraved on the bowl were the words, "I gave my life so that you may help others."�
�I can't tell you the number of tears I have shed over Sirius. Maybe it's because I have dogs of my own and I can see them sitting and waiting on my return, just as Sirius did Officer Lim. The forever faithful companion and partner. If you've never heard of Sirius, I urge you to go and read about him and all the other heroic canine teams from Ground Zero. They worked tirelessly right along side their humans. Here is one link you can go to. http://dogsinthenews.com/issues/0206/articles/020601a.htm�
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