Some Guys Are Just Good At Fighting Evil

Most of us can anticipate meeting one or two extraordinary people in our lives, the kind of people that leave us challenged and inspired to do better. Mike Curtin was that guy for a lot of people.

Without a doubt there are hundreds of incredible stories surrounding the extraordinary life and times of Mike Curtin, but there are three incidents that were all grim watersheds in our nation’s history where Mike was present, a man doing his job amidst the darkest tragedies. 

After serving in the Marines for twelve years and rising to the rank of Master Sergeant, a period of time that saw him fight in Desert Storm and other hotspots, Mike returned to his native New York City and became a NYPD officer.

Some guys are just good at fighting evil. 

In 1993 Mike Curtin unintentionally brought attention to himself for his actions when Islamic Terrorists attacked the World Trade Center with a truck bomb.

In some respects this attack has been overshadowed by the horrible events of 9-11 but at the time, it was an extremely harrowing and challenging environment for New York City’s First Responders. 

A 1,500 pound truck bomb was detonated in the North Tower’s basement garage, instantly knocking out electricity and phone service to the building and sending smoke into the stairwells and air shafts as high as the 100th floor.

Instantly, thousands of people were trapped inside the building in a chaotic and dynamic environment, including the elderly, pregnant women, physically challenged citizens, and even many children. In fact, an entire kindergarten class was trapped in one of the elevators for over five hours.

Mike was one of the many rescuers who distinguished himself that day by continually returning to the building despite the hazards and uncertainty until all of the civilians had been safely evacuated.

In April of 1995, as a NYPD officer assigned to the Emergency Services Unit, Mike found himself one of the hundreds of elite rescue operators who were hastily dispatched to Oklahoma City to participate in rescue and recovery efforts there in the wake of the bombing of the Alfred P. Murrah Federal Building. 

Just like two years earlier, this was an extremely dangerous and unpredictable environment. Several times in the first few days all rescuers had to be evacuated because of collapsing debris. Tragically, one rescuer would die when she was hit in the head by falling concrete.

It was in this environment that Mike personally spotted a shred of fabric amidst the destruction that he instantly recognized as part of a U.S. Marine Corps Dress Uniform. 

Despite the dangers Mike requested and was granted permission to stage a recovery of the remains of U.S. Marine Captain Randy Guzman who had been killed in the blast and buried in the rubble. Captain Guzman had died while manning his post, as the Officer in charge of the USMC Recruiting Station located in the building. It took over six hours but Mike and other Marines on site that day never left their comrade’s side until they had recovered him. Mike organized an Honor Guard and the body of his fellow Marine was properly escorted as he was removed from the site. It was a moment those who saw it will never forget.

These two incidents and many others had firmly marked Mike Curtin with legendary status amidst the rarified world of our nation’s most accomplished and highly skilled rescue operators when he was called to his final emergency on September 11, 2001.

The NYPD ESU Heavy Rescue Trucks are extremely impressive vehicles with a wide array of capabilities to respond to emergencies. They are famous in their own right well beyond the borders of New York City. 

As Sergeant of NYPD ESU Heavy Rescue Truck 2, Mike Curtin and his crew were one of the first Units to respond to the World Trade Center Attacks. Rescuing victims from building collapses and other high-risk situations is a primary ESU responsibility.

ESU Teams went up each of the Twin Towers stairwells as high as they could, helping hundreds of civilians safely evacuate. Mike’s team went up one of the North Tower stairwells. They perished together executing their mission when the building collapsed. In total, 14 ESU officers lost their lives that day.

Mike’s remains were not located until March 6, 2002, approximately five floors down from ground level. His service weapon was by his side.

Immediately, calls when out across the city. 

Marines and ESU Officers from every borough solemnly descended on Ground Zero. The Police Commissioner arrived as well, as did Mike’s wife Helga and one of his treasured daughters. Soon hundreds of NYPD Officers, Marines and City Dignitaries were on scene to pay their respects to one of New York’s Finest.

The procession ascended out of the wreckage with great ceremony and care, complete with an enormous American flag. Mike’s body once again found itself strapped into ESU Heavy Rescue Truck 2.

Lights flashing, dozens of ESU Trucks and NYPD Patrol Vehicles escorted “Truck 2” and Mike across the city to the morgue. Motorcycle Cops stopped traffic at every intersection and saluted. As the vehicles passed, New Yorkers of every stripe took a moment and bowed their heads in respect to a tremendous individual named Mike Curtin.

For more inspiring stories of the Spirit of Michael in action, check out... https://www.facebook.com/pages/The-Spirit-of-Michael/319058918294735

Teach Your Children About These People

The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising is one of the greatest examples in human history of dignity and courage in the face of a horrendous reality. The moral fortitude of those Jewish fighters is a guiding light that will shine for all eternity- teach your children about these people. 

    It all began with the Nazi’s surprise blitzkrieg attack of Poland, the official beginning of World War II. The Nazi invasion of Poland was cold and brutal even by their standards, particularly for that nation’s long-suffering Jewish population. At first the Nazis relocated all of Poland’s Jews into small urban ghettos in three major cities, primarily Warsaw.

There, over 300,000 people were packed into a small walled-off neighborhood. Then the Nazis began deporting the ghetto residents to what at first were believed to be slave labor camps. When Poland’s Jews realized the truth, and learned about the extermination camps, they resolved to fight to the death in the Ghetto. They organized militias, made weapons, and laid out plans for their defense. 

One of the key figures in the Uprising was a young man by the name of Michael Klepfisz. 

Michał Klepfisz was described by those who knew him as a tall and thin young man with a calm and laid back manner. But despite his unassuming appearance, this Michael is considered one of the greatest heroes of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising.

Michael began his transformation from a chemical engineer to a murderous warrior and Protector of His People by an act of almost-unbelievable selfless heroism.

Michael was one of the unfortunates who had been swept up off the street in the Warsaw Ghetto by a roving patrol of Nazi SS Soldiers. 

He was loaded onto a train, a train bound for the Treblinka Extermination Camp.

As the train rumbled through the night, Michael managed to kick out the bars covering a small window. He jumped off the moving train and found himself all alone, deep in Poland’s ancient and dark forests.

Instead of taking refuge in the wilds, Klepfisz made his way back through Nazi-occupied Poland and snuck back into the Warsaw Ghetto. Yes, you read that right. He was free, having barely cheated a horrible death, and he returned to Warsaw. To help. By fighting and killing.

After making sure his wife, daughter and sister were safely hidden outside Warsaw, Michael took charge of the Jewish Combat Organization’s bomb-making Unit. With guile and ingenuity he amassed the raw materials to start producing explosives. In the basement of an abandoned factory he created powerful bombs, artillery shells, land-mines, hand grenades and other explosive devices. In other basements, other Jews built, rebuilt, and repaired old rifles and loaded cartridges with Michael’s home-made gunpowder.

When everything was as ready as could be hoped, the Jews of the Warsaw Ghetto launched a surprise assault on the Nazi forces stationed within and around the Ghetto.

The stunning series of attacks killed large numbers of Nazi troops and allowed Warsaw’s Jews to seize a huge cache of weaponry.

More importantly, the Jewish Fighters expelled the Nazis from the ghetto, halting the deportations to Treblinka Extermination Camp. The shame and disgrace of the defeat was immediately felt all the way back to Berlin. 

The human monster known as Himmler personally replaced the Commander in charge of the ghetto with a man of unquestioning viciousness. The Nazis were forced to bring in extra troops from every theatre, weakening their lines and exhausting resources on every front.

Michael and the other Jewish Fighters resisted so fiercely, the Nazis were forced to bring in yet more troops and resources. The Jews of the Warsaw Ghetto fought back with such intractable tenacity the Nazis were left with only one option.

Moving from building to building, they methodically leveled the entire Ghetto.

The Jews continued to fight back, contesting every house and basement, fighting to the last man and woman.

Michael Klepfisz died in direct combat, in a gunfight with a cohort of Nazis. In a final act of heroism, he drew their fire and killed several, allowing the rest of his squad to escape and continue fighting.

This resourceful, brave, and selfless warrior lived a life suffused with the Spirit of The Archangel.

A Hero From The Old School

The village of Landres-et St. Georges is a typical farming villages in the North of France, an area also known as “The Argonne” for its dark forests. Here, near the borders of Belgium and Germany, well-maintained fields and orchards encircle ancient towns built of stone, and even today daily life is dictated by the seasons and the crops. 

However, this otherwise nondescript locale has been witness to some of humanities mightiest armies and fiercest battles. Julius Caesar, Joan of Arc, Napoleon, and generations of other soldiers have all fought here. 

In the fall of 1918, in the heart of World War I, history was again repeating itself. 

The orchards had long been blasted to splinters, and the green fields had been carved into black trenches. Now both the Allies and the Kaiser’s forces were moving troops into the area in anticipation of some very large battles.

On October 14, 1918 The US Army’s Company I, 165th Infantry, 42d Division was moving position towards the village in preparation for a major advance. One of the men in I Company was a former boxing instructor from New York City by the name of Sergeant Michael Donaldson. According to the 42d’s official history, repeated gas attacks, very high casualties, and rumors of a coming armistice had all worn down the soldier’s morale. Things got so bad that the 42d’s very active and decisive Chief of Staff, Colonel Douglas Macarthur, had recently issued orders forbidding the use of colloquial terms in officer’s official reports such as “Company shredded to pieces”, and any talk of peace or an end to hostilities was strictly forbidden. Against this backdrop of despondency and desperation, I Company followed orders and headed down the road. As they approached Landres-et St. Georges, they turned off the road, and began ascending a hill to take up a position on the crest.

     

Unknown to them however, a detachment of Germans had already taken possession of the hilltop. The German troops were dug in with their usual tactical precision. Several machine guns had a commanding view of the road and interlocking fields of fire. 

As the Americans approached the ridge, the Kaiser’s men unleashed the ambush. The Germans achieved total surprise and the assault was extremely effective. I Company was forced to hurriedly fall back to a safe position down the road to reorganize. 

In the confusion I Company left six men wounded on the hill amongst the dead. 

On his own initiative Sergeant Michael Donaldson, the former boxing instructor, now ran back through the ambush in plain sight of the enemy. 

As the machine guns blazed down at him, he sprinted back up the hill to the first injured man. Grabbing his wounded comrade by the shirt collar, he dragged the soldier back down to safety as bullets kicked up everywhere around them. 

Not content with just one incredible act of heroism, Sergeant Donaldson ran back up the hill five more times, each time in the face of withering enemy fire. Incredibly, he successfully rescued all six wounded men. 

This was truly the Spirit of Michael in action. For his selfless and outstanding bravery Sergeant Michael Donaldson was awarded the Congressional Medal of Honor and the Medaille Militaire, France’s highest Military Award.

Michael would go on to live a long and happy life, counting several U.S. Presidents as friends. He was well-known and well-regarded around New York City as he always remained active in Veteran’s groups.

Here is a slice of Sergeant Michael Donaldson’s extraordinary life in his own words: http://army.togetherweserved.com/army/servlet/tws.webapp.WebApp?cmd=ShadowBoxProfile&type=Person&ID=278620

Greetings!

Greetings! I am establishing this blog to explore and document my interest in the Archangel Michael. Through his own acts as The Soldier of God as well as his ability to inspire incredible heroism and sacrifice in us mere mortals, I believe Saint Michael is a true and awesome force for good on earth. If any readers have examples from their families or communities of people acting in the Spirit of Michael, please let me know so I can share them through this blog.