Can I use 9/11 as an example?

I'm writing an academic article in which I need an example of a heroic action that others helped with. I'm responding to an argument that says that while an individual can choose to act heroically—such as sacrificing their life for others—it would be wrong to assist her in doing so. I want to say that the emergency workers who lost their lives in 9/11 were heroic, but that the dispatchers and others who made their heroic actions possible were not wrong. So the argument above does not seem to apply universally.

Now, I'm just a bit afraid that using 9/11 as an example in passing might offend some people. But, it's a perfect example, and it's hard to think of others. Am I right to be worried about seeming insensitive, or should I be fine to use the example for the purposes of academic argument?