Volunteer’s family wins 9/11 benefit
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After a five-year fight, the U.S. government has dropped its effort to prevent a volunteer firefighter killed at the World Trade Center from receiving a federal death benefit for public safety officers who die on the job.
The decision is a belated victory for the family of Glenn Winuk, 40, a longtime member of the Jericho Fire Department who rushed to the burning towers on Sept. 11, 2001, to tend to victims. Winuk’s body was found in the rubble long after the skyscrapers collapsed.
The Justice Department’s Bureau of Justice Assistance had fought his family’s effort to collect a $250,000 payment, arguing that the benefit was intended only for active-duty public safety officers.
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