Honoring the Brave and the Rare

Peter Applebome in today's Times:

"Glenn J. Winuk was last seen on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, donning emergency equipment and running toward the World Trade Center. His body was not found until March 2002, near those of other rescue workers in what was once the lobby of the south tower.

Recovery workers found in his wallet a card identifying him as a member of the Jericho Volunteer Fire Department in the Long Island town where he grew up. He was wearing surgical gloves, either wearing or holding a stethoscope and was found beside an E.M.T. bag.

Why it took five years for the federal government to conclude that he was, in fact, a first responder who died in the line of duty is one of those mysteries of the bureaucratic world that defy simple explanation. Cold hearts? Legalism taken to the extreme? Worries about precedent?"

Read the whole thing...it's worth it.