Schools

Crestwood Elementary Teacher Marks 9/11 with Tribute in Song

Michael Guehring composed the tribute to first-responders after Sept. 11 and performs it for his students each year to give them an appreciation for the sacrifices of firefighters, EMS workers and police officers.

Michael Guehring, a fifth-grade teacher at , didn’t write a song for 9/11 right away. He teaches the early part of American history, and in teaching it every year, he came to appreciate what a wonderful country we have.

He better understood what the Founding Fathers had in mind when they fought for their freedom, wrote the Declaration of Independence and designed the Constitution. As Guehring’s students were less aware of what 9/11 was about, he wanted to pass the information along. So he wrote a song called "To Serve and Protect" that he performs every year for his students at a student assembly.

He realized that soon students who graduate from high school will have no idea what that day meant. He wanted to honor people who are first responders. Every time that they go out on a call they put their life on the line just so we can feel safe and protected.

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The song includes this verse: "When the planes hit the tower that morn/They were first to respond to the call/But the scene was full of chaos; no one knew just what to do/But they knew they had to help, so in they rushed to save some lives and then the tower crumbled down on top of them/They did not live to see the way they would be remembered/It cost them their lives."

Here are the lyrics to his song:

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Verse 1
As the flames roared and leapt around him,
He could feel the woman’s tears on his cheek.
He’d watched her cry as she
screamed, “You’ve got to save my baby!”
He fought until he found her, wrapped her
up, and carried her until he fell, Broken by a
timber.
He did not live to see the girl back in her
mother’s arms.
It cost him his life.

Refrain
He (she, they) showed bravery and
selflessness in the face of danger;
Willingly he (she, they) risked his (her,
their) life (lives) to help a stranger (those strangers, all strangers).
He (she they, they’ve) pledged to serve and to protect.
He (she, they) kept his (her, their) [keep
their] word to his (her, their) dying breath
[with ev’ry breath] for it [it could] cost him
(her them)[them] his (her, their)[their] life
(lives).

Verse 2
She was on the job responding to a call.
Enter in a deranged man with a gun.
She knew her duty so she confronted him.
She put herself between him and the
students of that school until she fell; fatally
wounded.
She did not live to see those students safely
back home.
It cost her her life.

Verse 3
When the planes hit the tower that morn,
They were first to respond to the call.
But the scene was full of chaos; no one
knew just what to do.
But they knew they had to help, so in they
rushed to save some lives and then the
tower crumbled down on top of them.
They did not live to see the way they would
be remembered.
It cost them their lives.

Verse 4
Ev’ry day and night there are people in
need.
Brave men and women answer the call.
They know the risks they face, but they
carry out their duty.
They rush to help the victims and apprehend
the criminals. And ev’ry day could be their
last day of service.
But still they answer ev’ry call even though
it could
Cost them their lives.


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