OT but important, A 9/11 aftermath story -A brother in arms in need!

I

IAJack

New member
Ok mods, feel free to remove this if you must, but I feel it is important!

I am just a lurker here most of the time, as I usually frequent the AR board. Below is a story and information concerning someone whom I have had the honor and pleasure of meeting and I think it is important that his story be told. He is a regular over at the other board as well as one of us that could use some help. If anyone has some media contacts or higher ups to get this story out it would be greatly appreciated.

HIS STORY AS FOLLOWS...


I have a friend named Lt. Marc Weinstein who is with the FDNY/EMSC. He was injured on duty by the fall of one of the WTC towers. Marc had 2 operations involving cervical neck fusion and plates, and lumbar fusion and plates. He lost his hearing in his left ear.

He is unable to work his job and was told by his doctors he is now totally disabled. Marc has also been given the same prognosis by the FDNY's own doctors. The trouble is the administration in the City of NY is forcing him to go back to work against 4 doctors orders. He cannot work and is in constant pain. Some days he is on a cane or crutches. The City of NY has tried to make him return to at least light duty or he will be terminated anyway. He believes they are doing this so he will not get a full 3/4 Disability from the City. If he does not return to work before 09/11/02 he will be terminated by policy. He is not allowed to use his sick time or personal leave time.

Marc is currently waiting for workman's comp to decide if they will approve a hearing aid. His money is running out. He has kids in school and faces losing his salary of $1600.00/month.

It appears that no one will help because he was not admitted to the Hospital for the first 24 hours that first week. He was at home waiting for authorization for MRI and surgeries. The Red Cross initially awarded him a $40,000 gift, but they kept delaying it with bureaucracy by sending duplicate forms and papers ultimately to be told he doesn't meet their since he was not in the hospital the first 24 hrs.

The charities are pulling what appears to be a fast one with the so called Mitchell Plan which states those injured had to be admitted to the hospital for 24 hrs first day or week.
This is an almost impossibility for many emergency workers and Lt. Weinstein didn't even get authorization until over a week later for MRI's or operations. Aside from this little catch clause, he meets all of the other requirements. At this point he is totally disabled, disfigured, and partially deaf from serving on the front lines. Yet, they don't want to help because of the 24 hr rule. Of course, if he had been killed, his family would already be taken care of. This is sort of ironic as we quickly approach the one-year anniversary with speeches and canonization of the so-called heroes. If they are heroes, then why aren't they being treated as such?

The reality is he is going broke while suffering in pain. He faces foreclosure and might lose his house. He had to hire an attorney to litigate for his pension. His Union has done nothing to help him. The Federal Fund can't assess how much benefit he will receive because he is still alive and they didn't make adjustments for injured workers. He served his city and country only to be repaid by termination on 9/11/02. I find it incredibly disgusting and ironic how we all call these folks a hero, but kick them in the gutter when the glamour has faded from the front page. Here we sit in anticipation of patriotic services and memorial services to mark the one-year anniversary of 9/11 but turn our backs on a gentleman who more than deserves our attention.

His contact information is:

LT. Marc Weinstein
781 Jefferson St
Baldwin NY 11510
516-608-8887

Is there any way to bring this to the public's attention regionally and/or nationally? Is there any way to get the media to put pressure on support organizations like:

American Red Cross
Robin Hood Relief Fund
Safe Horizon
Twin Towers Fund
United Way
World Trade Center Miracles Foundation
Crime Victim’s Board
Department Of Justice: Office for Victims of Crime
New York State World Trade Center Relief

Please help if you can, even if it is just to pass this along to an associate who may be able to assist Marc. I really appreciate any help or assistance you can provide.

Thank you,
 
Sorry, but this just doesn't sound right...

I mean, I _know_ that a LT. would make considerably more than $1,600/month. Before contributing, I'd do some serious checking.
 
A NYFD Lt. is about equivalent to an NYPD Sgt. paywise. Base pay for both (no OT or night diff) at top pay would be around $63,000 a year. There was about a $9000 difference between a patrolman and a Sgt. in 1994. A bit more than $1600 a month. NYPD and FDNY are also self insured so there is no Workman`s Comp. I`m retired LOD so I should know. :D
 
OK, so it sounds like either IAJack had a story told to him or he doesn't have all the facts 100%.

Assuming what he's been told is for real I only see one course of action. Get the fire fighter and all his friends to contact the local news organizations. Local TV around here have all kinds of segments on consumer "alerts" and other "human interest stories" like this generally. One about a 9/11 hero being screwed, especially coming on the anniversary of the tragedy, would almost certainly pique their interest. Nothing like publicity and public embarassment to make someone change their tune in a heartbeat.
 
If this is true the guy should contact O'Rielly. He's right there in NYC. It would make a great 9/11 story for them to run.
 
The difference between an Ordinary Disability Pension and a LOD pension could be about $1600. That`s what they tried to pull on one of my partners. However, the article says "salary", not difference in. Could just be a typing mistake.

There is no Worker`s Compensation Board involved. This again could be a reporting mistake. Anyone injured has to prove his case (LOD) in front of a medical board of 3 drs. The board then sends its recommendation to the Pension Board. The Pension Board sends its recommendation to the Commissioner who can either approve, disapprove or modify. The Commissioner then sends his answer back to the Pension Board which notifies the member. The member gets a copy. Both boards work for the city, not Workman`s Comp. As an aside, the Workman`s Compensation Board was located in 2 World Trade Center.

There are abuses on both sides. Mine was easy because I have a scars on my chest and leg from surgery with the surgeons paperwork. The Medical Board took one look, said "Good bye, you`re done", absolutely true statement and I was out in 6 weeks.

There is a 24 hour rule. This is supposed to prevent abuses. It doesn`t mean a claim can`t be filed, just that it makes it harder to prove.

I would think it would be much easier to make a case with 9/11. However, there could still be some who are abusing the system. A LOD injury usually happens right there with witnesses but nothing is 100% set in stone.

OTOH, the Medical Boards were known to turn down people who were almost dead. There are a lot of horror stories which are almost urban legends. One that is true is that some years ago a fireman was denied a disability pension more than once. He went to his final meeting with a sawed off .22 rifle and killed a couple of the drs. and I believe himself. This was a tragedy all around and it was in all the NYC papers.

If this is a true story, and it could be, he should take his case to the media. I hope he hasn`t waited too long. Even O`Reilly wants to move on. I wish him luck.
 
Y'all realize that this has many of the ear marks of a scam, don't you? I am not saying it is a scam, only that a bunch of the information simply does not add up to this guy being in such bad shape. He seems to be too well off and hyping up the pity angle way too much without the proper information to be completely legit. He may be completely legit, but he did a poor job of showing he is completely legit. I will explain...

Let's see, the pity angle is played because the guy is an American hero injured in the line of duty saving people during a trajedy. But, somehow this poor hero is being kicked in the ass by the evil system that has harshly turned its back on the hero.

I have to admit, I liked the cleaned up version IAJACK posted here over the supposed letter written by Lt. Weinstein posted on AR15. The clean version was a rewrite by a moderator there on AR15, Ben Dover. The less clean original version over on AR15 really sheds light on the possibility that this is a scam.

I really like the urgent plea that he needs help FAST, but he isn't asking for money from us, only that we contact people to get his name brought up and hopefully get the system to work better. He is quick to point out that he may be terminated on 9/11 2002 and isn't it ironic. Can he play that angle far enough?

Notice that he doesn't ask for money, but he gives you his mailing address? WTF? If he wants to be contacted by the media for interviews and such, all he needs is a phone number. Does it not strike y'all as totally freaking odd that he wants your calls and letters to go to numerous organizations, but does NOT give you one frigging address or phone number to any one of those organizations but gives you his??? Okay, by now the little alarm bells should be going off that this isn't right.

Also note the lack of salient information. Somehow, he completely forgot to mention specifically which company, battalion, station in which he worked. Is that necessary? Maybe. Is he really interested in getting his story out or is he interested in getting pity money FAST.

Notice he said he was injured by the fall of 'a tower.' Every other person I have seen on TV that was interviewed and was injured when into considerable detail as to where they were when they were injured or by what tower event caused their injury. This seems go hand in hand with not mentioning his station information.

I have done several internet searches on his name and other salient information and can find no mention of him anywhere as being injured on 9/11.

I took the liberty of searching his AR15 handle "edpmedic" and found he has a nice on-line photo album and is a prolific poster there with more than 1100 posts since he registered in December of 2001, after his terrible injuries. Maybe I am completely wrong here, but for a guy in such pain and having such financial problems, my search of his posts within the last six months (all that AR15 allows) indicates that the guy has some pretty darn high class shooting gear and he has been updating his collection.

Check out and note the cool gun, scope, and Beta C mag, floated barrel, custom grip and stock, nice furniture, and not cheap shoes
http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=6&f=2&t=153&w=searchPop

He showed off pictures of his son's shoes, $650 worth, apparently about the same amount as the new Bushmaster he was considering buying.http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=139828&w=searchPop

Here he is having parts added to his guns and has a posting thanking for the good service...
http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=2&f=27&t=133016&w=searchPop

He wants to buy an electonic powder measure and is seeking help on finding a good one. So I guess he is reloading.
http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=9&t=138073&w=searchPop

He is doing well enough to reseed part of his lawn and turn over the soil himself...
http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=5&t=138232&w=searchPop

Here is where he got more Bushy gear including a lower with jewel trigger and a handle for his AR10 as well. He did go shooting that day. Apparently, he has EOTEC optics in addition to the Tasco above.
http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=1&f=74&t=133035&w=searchPop


Apparently he was looking for some land to buy and thanks a bunch of folks for an outing and rifle. The Moderator Grin_N_Barrett said they would try to find him some land. http://www.ar15.com/forums/topic.html?b=2&f=79&t=122254&w=searchPop

YES, I am a cynic. Maybe the guy is for real, I don't know. I only hope that if I am ever in such poor financial and physical condition that I can do yard work, go shooting fairly often, buy damned expensive gun gear, be looking to buy land, and have a 13 year old son with $650 of tennis shoes.
 
Double Naught Spy,

Very fine work and evenly presented.

Could be one way, could be another.

What makes me wonder is why somebody who was injured so badly as to require 3 spinal column fusions and who was home waiting for MRI and surgery authorizations wasn't diagnosed at a hospital as needing an MRI and surgeries during that crucial 24 hour period. There's a chicken-and-egg problem with that.

Also, where's the union on this...?
 
well, for what its worth, my mental "scam" alarm was set off by this, if for no reason than the media would have been all over this like a rash if it was true, especially given the upcoming anniversary of the attacks.
 
When I last checked the thread over at AR15, there were more than 4 pages and of the posts I skimmed, everybody there was falling all over themselves to give support to the 'hero' of 9/11. I was hesitant to post my jaded view after seeing all that and did not post anything there. So I am rather shocked to see that the request for assistance was not just noticed by me as being rather out of character on salient information. He has too much information for some non-critical aspects but is lacking information on critical aspects.

If the guy is legit, then I got to get together with him and find out how he is losing $1600 a month but is still able to custom AR15 gear, reloading equipment, go shooting with various folks, do some serious yard work (turning topsoil for seeding is a sucky job - I have done it myself), but not be well enough to go back to work in a light duty capacity because of all the pain he is in. He wants us to help him, you know, for the wife and kids he has who apparently will have to do without. I have to get on that gravey train!!!!

His 13 year old's shoes alone cost more than all the clothing for my two little girls. He definitely has a more tricked out rifle than I an in following his posts, he is continuing to improve it. I have to admit, I was not impressed by the Wal-Mart carry case he had for it, but I guess that is because he could not afford to get a Pelican case since all the money went into new scopes, jeweled triggers, etc.

If you do read the posts he has made there, you will see that his son apparently needed a math tutor and so this poor unemployed firefighter who can't go to work is making his son pay for his own tutor from the money he makes mowing lawns. I'm thinking that if I am home 24/7 because of an injury, I could by golly crack a math book and help my kid out and maybe some of that hard earned lawn money could go to buying me more ammo! Sorry, I slipped.

I just have trouble helping out people who claim to be in such dire straits who are obviously doing so much better than me and I have a regular income and family.
 
?

I am not going to try to sway people on their opinions on this. I only posted it to allow people to make up their own mind. I will say I personally met Marc at the Black Rifle Convention in June and his health condition was poor at the time.

Alot of the toys he has posted and the sig pic of his rifle were donated items and gifts. The engraved AR15 was donated by Armalite and awarded to him by the Pres. of the company at the BRC.

Yes there are probably alot of mistakes in the letter. The one I posted was a mod re-write from an original posted by Marc that was originally edited by the mods due to some of its content posted in a time of desperation.

It looks like we may have him some help on the way. If you would check over there at the thread you will see some of the responses. If you took the time to write Marc an E-mail in a non-confrontational way I am sure he would explain any questions.

I did not post this to stir anything up, cause harm or "scam" anyone. Sorry if it was taken the wrong way. Maybe one thing that we could all do that is free is say a small prayer for him and I'm sure others in similar situations
 
IAJack, I have no doubt you posted the revised letter here as an act of good faith to help out someone. There is nothing wrong with that.

What was wrong was that Weinstein's presentation of his plight seemed to have gaping holes, bizarre information that just did not add up, and that whole bit about not sending money but please contact all these organizations for me really is strange. What made that so strange was that while he has posted over 1100 times on AR15, he was not going to be bothered enough to actually help supporters in contacting those organizations by providing their email, snail mail, or phone numbers. That indicates to me that he really was not all that interested in people trying to help him in that manner. Instead, he provided us with his snail mail and phone number. That reminds me a lot of the guys pan handling on the corner with a sign that says

"Vietnam Vet
Will work for food
God Bless"

And then you tell them to hop in that you have work for them and the reply comes back, "What? And leave my corner? Thanks, but no thanks."

Maybe he would have been more credible had he spent more time facilitating the process to help him and less time boasting and showing off so many expensive material items and talking about the physical activities he does do even though he can't work because of injuries. If he did not want stuff going to him, then why did he provide his address? If he really wanted us to contact all those organizations, not only sould contact information been provided, but specifically who in the organziation that we need to contact instead of us getting some hourly company operator who scribbles down the message and tries to figure out who to give it to. This may come as a shock, but several of those organization are really big. If he needed help fast, then it was really dumb to provide such vague information. As a fireman and paramedic/emt guy, he knows the extreme importance of time dependent situations where the would be helpers or rescuers need specific locations to be able to deliver needed help on scene as fast as possible. That was about is helpful in a timely manner as someone calling 911 and telling the dispatcher that somebody had fallen in the East River near a bridge and then the dispatcher relays that information to a fire station where they start the slow process of trying to figure out which side of the river the guy went in on and at what bridge and then determine where that person might be given the current of the East River and the amount of time that had passed since the phone call reporting the emergency.

Great! So if all those things he has posted on were donated to him, then he stands to make some really needed money as pure profit (since he didn't buy them) that can help out his family.
 
This is my first post. I came here through a search of my phone # on Google. What I found surprised me. So first off let me say hello and second I am the guy in this article.

I go by the name edpmedic at Ar15.com, Snipershide.com, glocktalk And HKpro. Therefore, it gives an idea what my hobbies are. I need to say the article is true and what I have gone through since the help of many has been a story in itself.
I need to say that with out the help of people on the web and papers I would have fallen to where God only knows. It has been a struggle and still going on. Just until yesterday, Workers Comp finally closed my case out. I have my SSID. My three-quarter pension, which now is reduced due to some law with Workers Comp.

What I need to explain after reading some remarks is until you been there you do not know. My Brothers & Sisters of FDNY/EMS are not on the same pay scale as a FDNY FireFighter or Supervisor. Truthfully we are still not thought of as part of FDNY after all this time. We are more like a stepchild or parasite that is just there and tolerated.

It took lots of blood sweat and tears from the EMS Union to get what we now have. FDNY & EMS are not any different than how the fight goes in other states. It was and still is a battle, which has gotten better in some states faster than in others.

That is the real story that must be told and understood. That the fight for equal pay and benefits must never stop. That we in EMS are just as dedicated to saving the life of others as FireFighters are. This is in no way a shun to the brave firefighter who puts his life on the line. I do in no way put down their heroic gestures to save lives in anyway. It honored me to become part of FDNY and was one who prayed the union would have been more cohesive. Since I worked in Chicago and I was trained by CFD to be a Paramedic I thought it would work here. In most cases, it does not lay on the individual firefighter and EMS worker, but on the level of politics. This stems hatred down to the lower ranks. This is the way of life in many professions may it be federal, city or private.

What I need to say about my day on 09-11-01 cannot be explained to anyone including my family. It was such a personal fight for life that it still haunts me. I have had much physical therapy, which no longer is helpful. I have been on Morphine patches, Morphine lollypops, Morphine time-release capsules and other drugs, which are, suppose to cut down and dull the electrical impulse to my neck, arms and legs. It has gotten to the point where the drugs do not work and I had to stop their use. I was still in pain but could not stop the use of the drugs even on a good day. I will not lie that it is not an easy thing to stop and I went through detox and hell. I am going to see if I am a candidate for some electronic stimulator that they implant into my body.

The world was changed on that day and every person also. We will never look at certain people or religions in a trusting way again. This includes American to American. May God show us all the way to live in peace and get along. May all the Military personnel come home safe and this insanity stop.

Edited: It didn't matter what I had at the time or how I spent my money. What I was fighting for was my future and to support my family & the things I love to do. It has been a long hard road and I thank those who have stood by me. My family at AR15.com is the best there will ever be.
 
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