September 11, 2001, was the most deadly terrorist attack on American soil, as well as one of the first. Many people inside those buildings did not know what was happening. Today, I proposed the honoring of those who risked their lives to save their buddies, their colleagues, and just plain strangers. Some of these people are still among us today. Some fell with the towers, helping people until the very end.

You've all heard of the firemen, the police, and the Port Authority, who have all been honored, but have you heard the stories of those whose job wasn't to save people, yet they did anyway? Some literally carried people out of the building, others helped people breathe, some opened doors, and other broke windows. As well as in the buildings, there was heroism in the planes as well. Such as Todd Beamer and several other Flight 93 passengers, who stormed the cockpit, forcing the plane into the ground and possibly preventing the death of hundreds, perhaps thousands, more people. Maybe it's Betty Ong, who made the first call on Flight 11 to notify Air Traffic Control of the hijacking.

The list goes on, but here are some of the civilian heroes of 9/11:

Betty Ong and Amy Sweeney (Flight 11): Ong and Sweeney made the first call to Air Traffic Control to notify them of the hijacking. Although they did not directly save any lives, their bravery will be honored by this award.

Tom Burnett, Todd Beamer, Jeremy Glick, and Mark Bingham (Flight 93): these four men are responsible for the intentional crashing of Flight 93 near Shanksville, Pennsylvania. Realizing their plane was hijacked, they stormed the cockpit and crashed the flight nose-down, saving hundreds of lives in Washington DC (the intended target) at the expense of the passengers'.

Beau Doboszenski (Pentagon): Doboszenski was a tour guide and former member of the armed forces who administered medical aid to injuries at the Pentagon, as well as entering the building while it was on fire to evacuate people. He survived.

Rick Rescorla (South Tower): Rescorla was in the plaza when the first plane hit, and, rationally, decided to evacuate his company before the plane even hit their tower. By the time the plane hit, more than 2,700 of Rescorla's colleagues were out of the building. He cheered them up by singing songs, and continued to rescue people until the tower collapsed. He did not leave the tower alive.

Brian Clark (South Tower): Much of Brian Clark's office was evacuating when the second plane hit. The tip of the wing ripped through the trading hall, where Brian had been standing minutes earlier. On his way down, he heard a faint voice calling for help. Eventually, he found Stanley Praimnath, stuck behind a wall of debris on the 81st floor. Clark hoisted Praimnath over the wall and began to descend, both making it out alive. Only two of Clark's colleagues who remained in the office survived: Richie Fern and Ron DiFrancesco.

Welles Crowther (South Tower): When the plane hit, Welles Crowther quickly found the intact Stairwell A and made his way down to the 78th floor skylobby. Crowther then began to direct evacuees to the intact stairwell until the very end. It is unknown how many lives were saved by Welles Crowther.

Harry Ramos (North Tower): At first, Harry Ramos was evacuating alongside his fellow coworkers, until be met Victor Wald. Ramos lagged behind, opening doors, directing people, but most of all, helping Wald. Wald was unable to walk any further on the 34th floor, but Ramos remained with him until the tower collapsed.

Frank DeMartini, Pablo Ortiz, and Mak Hanna (North Tower): Frank DeMartini, building manager, left his wife on the 88th floor to help evacuate people from the above floors. Along with him came coworkers Mak Hanna and Pablo Ortiz. After saving a group of MetLife employees and a secretary on the 89th floor,Mak Hanna escorted them out of the building. Ortiz and DeMartini continued to save people until the building fell. Hanna and the evacuees he was escorting survived, while Ortiz and DeMartini did not. They are accredited with saving over 50 lives.

 Ladder Company 6, FDNY (North Tower): When things started getting bad in the North Tower, Ladder Company Six captain John Jonas decided to disobey orders and evacuate his  group of men from the building. While leaving, they came across Josephine Harris, a woman who had a bad leg and could no longer walk down the stairs. The men carried Harris down to the 4th floor when the building collapsed. Miraculously, the men were in a one or two floor pocket where the were not crushed under debris, and survived, along with Harris.

I know there are many more tales of heroism that day, but these are the truly outstanding ones that come to my mind when I think of that terrible day. Leave more stories in the comments if you know them, and there may be more additions to this list.

So now, I petition President Donald J. Trump to award these brave citizens, dead or alive, with the Presidential Medal of Freedom, for their meritorious acts of kindness, bravery, and valor.