[StBernard] LRA cost me $24,000 & called to say "I was lucky."

[Westley Annis]

Donna
 
Your comments on 9/11 and the workers hit home.  My son was also in New York
on 9/11, and was with FDNY.  He spent many long hours just waiting with an
ambulance for many days so there would be someone there to honor their own
when their remains were brought out.  Ironically, like you, he left the FDNY
in March, 2004 and moved back to Chalmette, where he resided up to Katrina.
I do worry constantly about what he was exposed to while being there so many
days for months after 9/11.  Fortunately for him, he was evacuated out of
the area after Katrina and did not get back to St. Bernard until 10/05.  I
still worry about the long range health risks he was exposed to in both New
York and St. Bernard.  I think, in his case, and for all of us only time
will tell to what we have been exposed.
 
God Bless.

	----- Original Message ----- 
	"During the 5 yr anniversary of 9/11, the Discovery Channel showed
that of
	the 7,000
	rescue workers in and around the towers, over 6,500 all have
multiple forms
	of cancer believed to be caused by the benzene in the jetfuel. Now
they were
	exposed for a few days..."
	 
	Okay...This seems a trivial point, but...
	My husband and I have the dubious distinction of having lived in NYC
on
	September 11, 2001 and having moved to Violet in October 2004 and
starting
	our own business in March 2005 on Magazine Street.
	
	Flight 175 that hit the South Tower flew LOW over my head about 20
seconds
	before it disappeared into the Tower. 
	
	I was at the World Trade Center site 10 days after September 11,
2001.
	Having that smell burned in my olfactory memory for eternity, I can
honestly
	say that I never believed the EPA report that said Ground Zero was
safe. It
	was clear that there were plastics burning, cement, bodies, etc.,
etc. 
	
	The rescue workers were down there IMMEDIATELY after the buildings
fell (I
	believe they only left the site briefly when building #7 collapsed
that
	afternoon) and they stayed there for MONTHS. Many of them were
volunteers
	from around the country. They were not provided with any breathing
	apparatus. 
	Many people don't know (how could you?) that the fires in the
sub-basements
	below the World Trade Center burned for about 8 MONTHS after
September 11,
	2001. That smell hovered until well after the fires were finally
	extinguished.
	I apologize for nit-picking, but I just wanted to make sure that you
all
	knew that these rescue workers were unstoppable. It was expected
that the
	clean-up would take at least twice as long as it actually did. This
is
	because the FDNY wanted to bring all of their brothers home to their
	families and because the volunteers sacrificed vacations, sick days,
time
	with family, going to work and being paid, sleep, etc., etc. At the
same
	time, they were finding pieces of people. Seriously. 
	I don't know how these people were able to stay sane while doing the
heroic
	work that they did. We New Yorkers didn't know how to thank them, so
we
	would stand on the West Side Highway and hold up signs thanking them
and we
	would cheer and clap as they came to and from the site. It was a
small
	gesture to us, but they were usually teary-eyed and would mouth
"Thank you"
	to all of us.
	No offense meant here, I just didn't want anyone to think that the
rescue
	workers were only there for a few days.
	Hope all of you are having a wonderful (okay, I'll settle for
'good') day...
	-Donna
	Oak Ridge Park
	Violet