FDNY Denies Line of Duty Funeral to 9/11 Responder

NEW YORK - A wake is being held for a New York City firefighter who worked at Ground Zero for six months after 9/11 and was later diagnosed with pancreatic cancer.

Firefighter James Ryan, of Kings Park, N.Y., died on Christmas. He was 48 and leaves a wife and three children.

Uniformed Firefighters Association president Steven Cassidy is upset Ryan will not receive a line of duty funeral because the city does not consider his death job related.

Ryan's brother, Mike, believes his brother's cancer resulted from exposure to toxins at Ground Zero.

Firefighters who had worked with Ryan in Queens say they have organized an honor guard and bagpipes for Tuesday's funeral.

Services will be held at Abiding Presence Lutheran Church in Fort Salonga.

Related

0 members like this

▶ Reply to This

Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Allen Wahlstrom on January 2, 2010 at 8:56pm

Ray, if it is a line of duty death...the family sees a large sum of money that they won't as the case sits now.

Well I can assure you if it is my family, they fight to get it ruled a LODD.

I fail to understand your inane logic. No not every firefighter who dies of cancer has developed it directly due to the job. However, there are tens of thousands sick and or dying from maladies directly due to the garbage they ingested at the collapse site.
We may not know for 20 or 30 years what cancers, lung issues and any number of illnesses are directly attributed to exposure after 9/11 and it is not the responsibility of the firefighter, cop or construction worker to prove that it was.

You are missing the big picture here, our brothers and sisters are still being killed just as dead as the 343 who died on 9/11. They deserve the same recognition for their sacrifice! Your insistence that because this cancer is not "on the list", he did not die from his exposure is flawed.

Maybe this will put it in perspective...

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Pat Sullivan on January 4, 2010 at 9:45am

Every firefighter should receive a "last response" ride to his grave on a engine. He should have flags and honor guards and bagpipes and parades and 5-5-5 broadcast on the radio. There should be proclamations from the Mayor and the Governor and the President of the United States everytime a firefighter (or a cop for that matter) dies, be it directly in the line or at home in his bed. They should be entitled to burial with full fire dept honors in a national cemetery. This is what we give our military veterans who fight to defend our nation. Why do firemen and cops deserve any less? If 9/11 taught us nothing else as a nation it should have taught us that firefighters and police officers ARE our front line of defense as much as any Marine or Soldier. Did 9/11 cause this man's death? None of us will ever know that for certain. But I propose it doesn't matter. If he was a firefighter then he was a hero, period and deserves a hero's funeral.

The fire service across the nation, including the IAFF and the IAFC should be lobbying congress to amend the US flag Code to authorize a Governor to order US flags at half staff for the death of a firefighter or cop like he can for a Military service man. The regulations for National cemetery burial should include provision for burial of firefighters or cops who die in the line of duty. But there should be an entitlement to federal recognition of their service, regardless of the circumstances of their death. We should honor our heroes. No exceptions.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Ray W on January 4, 2010 at 10:19am

Get over it already; this hero’s family will be taken care of. You maybe a “Friend” to a firefighter but I was a firefighter until I lost my leg riding my motorcycle home from work; wait a minute maybe by you logic, my amputation should be covered under a line of Duty injury. This is my opinion; get a clue & stop bothering me. More people agree with me than you; including FDNY members. Than every person in NY City should get the same be benefits’ as they got sick from the pit. Every thing that you point to as proving your argument still has the same words; “suspected” & or “Could have-been” when the determine a link to the cancers then an LODD can be determined until then it is not connected.

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Allen Wahlstrom on January 4, 2010 at 10:39am

Ray, Your opinion means nothing to his family or for that matter anyone involved.

And if you took the time to figure out who you are arguing with you would have seen that I am and have been a career firefighter since
the late 1980's...

Done

▶ Reply

Permalink Reply by Ray W on January 4, 2010 at 12:27pm

Allen you said something right finally; none of our opinions matter on this site & I am sure that the family looked @ yours and you made everything better for them.