MOM - Gives Bush her hero son's shield

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NYPost

Mom Gives Prez Her Hero Son's Shield

By MAKI BECKER Daily News Staff Writer

rlene Howard, her heart breaking, walked up to President Bush yesterday and gave him a precious gift: the shield of her son, a Port Authority officer killed as he ran up to the World Trade Center on Tuesday.

"It was an honor," the President told her during the emotional meeting yesterday at the Javits Center.

"It was an honor for us," said Howard, a World War II veteran whose family members are all in the military or law enforcement. "I thanked him for coming down to say thank you to us. He said he was going to get them."

A 16-year veteran of the Port Authority's Emergency Services Unit, Police Officer George Howard, 41, was a role model to countless colleagues.

He is credited with revamping the PA's emergency services unit. He taught hundreds of firefighters at the Nassau County Fire Academy. The father of two also was a volunteer firefighter in Hicksville, L.I., where he lived.

"I've gotten so many calls about how great my son was, from people he taught at the fire academy, people whose lives he saved in fires and accidents," Arlene Howard said. "I never realized how much he did."

George Howard was not supposed to be working Tuesday, but when he got word about the Trade Center attack, he raced from his home to Kennedy Airport, where he is based. He grabbed a Port Authority vehicle and sped to the complex.

"He got there and got out of the truck," said his brother, NYPD Sgt. Pat Howard. "They found him under a piece of sheet metal."

George Howard's actions Tuesday were a repeat display of bravery in the face of danger. He had been among the first emergency workers to race into the World Trade Center when it was bombed in 1993. His unit was credited with saving a dozen people from that disaster.

"He died saving people's lives," Arlene Howard said. "There's nothing greater than that."

-- Anonymous, September 15, 2001


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