"Fifteen city workers who suffered health problems from working at Ground Zero will be the first to get payouts from a $2.8 billion 9/11 fund created by Congress two years ago.

The biggest award is $1.5 million, to a 43-year-old firefighter who had to stop working because of respiratory problems, officials of the September 11th Victim Compensation Fund said yesterday.

The minimum awards are $10,000. All are for respiratory ailments, said Sheila Birnbaum, the lawyer overseeing the fund.

Fourteen of the payees are firefighters and one worked for the city Department of Correction.

Individuals offered payouts are getting only 10 percent up front. Whether they eventually get the full amount that Birnbaum has deemed appropriate will depend on how many people file claims and whether Congress funds the entire cumulative payout".

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/st_zadroga_payouts_qsxHWgNjnX8EfumSnFQhML

For the 11th anniversary of September 11, we at the Journal of 9/11 Studies would like to share a series of letters from thoughtful people who have reflected on the tragic events of that day. Five letters are being published today, from the following individuals.

Lorie Van Auken is a founding member of the 9/11 Family Steering Committee. Without her dedication there would never have been a 9/11 Commission investigation.

Gregg Fishman is Secretary of the World Trade Center Rescuers Foundation. Like others he represents, Gregg risked his life and health in an attempt to rescue and recover victims following the destruction of the World Trade Center buildings.

Father Frank Morales is an Episcopal priest, activist, and author from New York City. He was present at Ground Zero shortly after the 9/11 events, offering prayers for the victims and support for the first responders.

David Johnson is Professor Emeritus of Urban and Regional Planning at the University of Tennessee. Dr. Johnson served as a panelist at the Toronto Hearings on the tenth anniversary of 9/11.

Dr. Paul Craig Roberts was Assistant Secretary of the Treasury for Economic Policy and associate editor of the Wall Street Journal. He has investigated the events of September 11, 2001 and his writings on that and other subjects have attracted a worldwide following.

A similar number of letters from other contributors will be published later this week. We hope that the words and sacrifice of these great people will make a difference on the anniversary of 9/11 and into the future.

Sincerely, Graeme MacQueen and Kevin Ryan, co-editors

Jon Gold
6/14/2012

First, I want to say CONGRATULATIONS!!! Finally. Finally, the 9/11 First Responders that are sick and dying as a result of working down at the pile, have healthcare to take care of them. Healthcare that now includes cancer. It doesn't cover all cancers, so there might still be a fight, but it is certainly better than it was. It has been a long fight. I know. I have been there since almost the very beginning.

I, like many others, have done my best to be supportive of the 9/11 First Responders. To try and bring attention to their issue. I started an archive the day James Zadroga died that has been maintained for years. In January 2007, I held my very first fund-raiser for 9/11 First Responders. I managed to raise $3,290.00 that time. When Mike Bloomberg said that James Zadroga wasn't a hero, people like me were there to get Mike Bloomberg to apologize. Every time the FealGood Foundation went to Washington D.C., I did my best to promote their trips, and the resulting videos.

As I said, it has been a long fight. A hard fight. Because it is difficult to get politicians to do the right thing, sometimes concessions have to be made. Long ago, several 9/11 First Responders were very supportive of the "9/11 Truth Movement." Because of antics in the "9/11 Truth Movement," many 9/11 First Responders started to disassociate from the movement, and understandably so. However, another reason that 9/11 First Responders started to shy away from people in the "9/11 Truth Movement" was because being associated with that group, a group that has been relentlessly slandered and ridiculed by the "mainstream media," meant that it was harder to get politicians to do the right thing. In other words, if the 9/11 First Responders wanted the politicians to play ball, they also had to play the game.

http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/cops_cancer_woe_Mv6FHbnSzyAyIYtlqNcHkK#ixzz1lbq9e2Z8

9/11 cops’ cancer woe
Average age just 44: PBA
By SALLY GOLDENBERG
Last Updated: 12:57 PM, February 6, 2012
Posted: 1:12 AM, February 6, 2012

More Print
EXCLUSIVE
A startling number of healthy, young cops who responded to the 9/11 attacks have since been diagnosed with cancer, according to new data obtained by The Post.
The statistics — which show nearly a tripling in the number of cops applying for cancer-related disability pensions post-9/11 — are the first of their kind to become public and confirm the fears of at least 12,000 police officers who toiled amid the rubble at the toxic World Trade Center site.
There are 297 cops who have been diagnosed with cancer since working at Ground Zero — and the average age is a shocking 44 at the time of diagnosis, according to the data from the Patrolmen’s Benevolent Association.

by Kevin Ryan

Foreign Policy Journal
February 4, 2011

The tragedy at the World Trade Center (WTC) on September 11th, 2001 continues to affect many thousands of first responders who sacrificed their own health while restoring lower Manhattan and attempting to recover survivors and victims’ remains.  Recently, H.R. 847, otherwise known as the James Zadroga Bill, was signed by President Obama in an effort to provide services and compensation for those whose health was compromised through exposure to the toxic dust and gases at Ground Zero.  However, these first responders also need help to understand how their illnesses originated so that improvements in treatment can be made.  In response to this need, concerned citizens should consider the possible correlation between evidence for energetic materials at the WTC and the environmental exposures which appear to have caused so many illnesses in the first responders.