YOUR WORK
HERE IS COMPLETE
TIME TO REAP
YOUR REWARDS
FF RAYMOND
PFEIFER
TAGS:
FDNY RAY PFEIFER, FEALGOOD FOUNDATION, WTCHP, ZADROGA ACT,
9/11
COMMUNITY, A MODEST TRIBUTE TO THIS FINE AND DECENT MAN
(Revised
June 3, 2017)
(Tuesday May 30, 2017, WTC
Memorial, NYC) FDNY
Firefighter Raymond Pfeifer passed away on Sunday after a grueling 8-year
battle with an aggressive malignant
disease caused by his exposures to toxins while participating in the
recovery efforts here after September 11, 2001.
A 27-year veteran of the FDNY, FF Pfeiffer like so many hundreds of his
fellow Members of Service of the FDNY,
NYPD, PAPD, legions of steel workers, operating engineers, demolition recovery
experts, urban search and rescue teams from across the country, union tradesmen
from the construction industry, and other recovery workers and volunteers of all sorts, is but the latest
casualty from that infamous day in 2001.
Many words have been and will be written about this man. While his story is not entirely unique his
own fight with cancer led him to fight on the behalf of others similarly
stricken. Pfeifer along with former demolition
supervisor John
Feal (who lost part of his left foot while working on “The Pile”) and founder
of the Fealgood Foundation, took
the fight for medical benefits coverage for “Ground Zero” workers to the
corridors of power in Washington, DC.
They had to essentially shame the Congress into “doing the right thing”. Their efforts paid off in 2016 when the Zadroga
Act was permanently extended to provide health care for the approximately
36,000 people suffering from one of the 200 “approved
related illnesses” who worked on The Pile until the site was cleared of
wreckage in May 2002.
Yes, much has been said and
written and more will be reported, said and written about Ray Pfeifer as he is
laid to rest and afterwards. His funeral
will be attended by thousands, he will be eulogized and celebrated,
respectfully interred and reverently remembered. His name will forever be synonymous with the World
Trade Center Health Program (WTCHP) and his legacy will stand the test of
time and be measured in lives saved, illnesses treated, as well as his
essential role in assuring the federal government’s despicably reluctant fulfillment
of a moral contract they actively fought against.
It will be said that “words
alone fail”, “no words exist to describe Ray” but there are words, words we are
all familiar with, emotions and sentiments we share and can be spoken from a
place of commonality; our shared struggles throughout the 16 years since our
lives changed. Our exclusive Community
of 9/11 victims grows smaller with each death among us. For each insidious pathological victory there
will be a loss. The inevitability of
death, the fact that the path has been hastened, unnaturally shortened because
of what we breathed in for all those months at The Site, The Pile, Ground Zero,
by whatever designation one choses to call that hellish but sacred 16-acre plot
cannot be denied.
We were all younger then,
perhaps a bit naive’ regarding responsibilities as far as our City and
government would see our illnesses. From
the moment on September 12th, 2001 that then EPA Director Christie
Todd Whitman declared
the air at the still smoldering cauldron of Ground Zero was “safe to breath”
and “posed no serious health risks” some of us questioned the validity of such
a definitive declaration. Common sense
alone told us that it just couldn’t be,
that there had to be something wrong
with breathing that particulate-matter laden air. But we are all far too familiar with that story,
the stories of lives cut short, many from exotic, highly aggressive
malignancies that initially perplexed much of the NYC medical community. Sadly, too many of us learned the hard
way. But, from this vantage point as we
prepare to put one of our own to rest, that is not the story that needs telling
anymore.
If every cause needs a name
and a face, Ray Pfeifer became the very public face of the disease ravaged
segment of the 9/11 Community. It was
not a role he ever sought nor a cause he initially thought would be so
complicated and protracted. But he
allowed us all in for his fight. From his
numerous hospitalizations and treatment protocols he permitted us to see what
is normally a very private process.
Along the way our cause became his and his fight ours. Even for the tens of thousands who never met
the man, shook his hand, drank a beer with him, he emerged as familiar as a
neighbor, brutally honest, courageous in his struggle, rarely seen without a
smile.
On Thursday and Friday, the
populations of the Nassau County communities of East Meadow and Hicksville will
soar exponentially as thousands descend to these locales for the Wake and
Funeral, respectively, for FF Ray Pfeifer.
It will be, as all FDNY funerals are, a stirring tribute and solemn farewell. For each attendee there will be dozens more
who will pause to remember this man. Yes,
there are words to describe Ray Pfeifer, simple words, no too easily
manipulated analogies. Ray was a fine
and decent man. A devoted husband and
father. A NYC Firefighter. A Proud MOS of Engine 40. Ray will forever be
Honored, Remembered, and Respected for his Service and Sacrifices as well as
for all he has done for so many. Heaven
is a better place today. Be at peace,
Sir. Your work here is over.
Copyright The Brooding Cynyx 2017 © All Rights Reserved
Copyright Brooding Cynyc 2017 © All Rights Reserved
