New York Decides 9/11 Hero Died in Line of Duty

[JM15 386]

The names and dates of death, inscribed on the monument in Albany's Empire State Plaza, span nearly two centuries - from 1811 through 2005.

Next month, the name of Jericho volunteer firefighter and EMT Glenn J. Winuk, who perished at the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, will be among 22 additions to the New York State Fallen Firefighters Memorial in the state's capital.

Members of his family - brother Jay Winuk, 48, of Mahopac, and cousins who live near Albany - plan to be at the Oct. 10 ceremony. Glenn Winuk is the only Sept. 11 death being added to the memorial this year.

"I think it's as a direct result of the legislation passing - unanimously passing - the Assembly and Senate of New York and then being signed by Governor Pataki, recognizing Glenn as a line-of-duty death and as an active firefighter," Jay Winuk said yesterday.

Glenn Winuk, 40, who was a partner at the law firm Holland & Knight in lower Manhattan, was a 19-year volunteer firefighter and EMT for the Jericho department with extra rescue training for building collapses. On Sept. 11, after helping evacuate the law offices on Broadway, he dashed the block and a half to the south tower. His body was recovered in March 2002.

The addition of Winuk's name to the memorial in Albany is the fourth official recognition of his sacrifice on Sept. 11.

In June 2002, a park on North Marginal Road in Jericho where he, his brother and his friends played as children - and near the Jericho Fire Department - was named in his honor.

In May 2003, Glenn Winuk was recognized as a line-of-duty death at the National EMS Memorial Service in Roanoke, Va.

Then, in June of this year, at Engine Company 10 and Ladder 10 on Liberty Street in lower Manhattan, the cast-bronze sculpture memorializing all firefighters who died on Sept. 11 was dedicated. The sculpture was paid for by a foundation established by Winuk's law firm, and a large, diamond-shaped plaque that bears his name is mounted to the left of the sculpture.

Recognitions of Winuk's death as being in the line of duty carry special significance for the family since the Justice Department decision earlier this month that, because Winuk was not on active duty with the Jericho department on Sept. 11, his family is not entitled to a benefit for public safety officers killed on the job. After going off active duty in 1998, he remained an associate member of the department and kept his EMT credentials, his brother said.

Jay Winuk also pointed to the state law declaring his brother's status. "It's a law specifically written about Glenn because of the unusual nature of his death, and the gray area he was in - as a member of his department with a level of EMT credentials but not officially an active member of his department anymore," Jay Winuk said. "So New York State stepped forward and said we will reactivate him."

The family plans to appeal the Justice Department decision.

Courtesy of www.firehouse.com