Rob Serra: 9/11 hero on the broken promise. 257 FDNY dead from 9/11 illness.
Rob Serra's first day on the job was 9/11. Two decades later, he's watching firefighters die three or four times a week from 9/11 illnesses — 257 FDNY gone, close to 500 NYPD, thousands more civilians — and asking the question nobody in power wants to hear: if we really meant "never forget," where the hell have you been for 20 years? This conversation connects the broken promise made to 9/11 first responders to the broken promise made to Afghans and Afghanistan veterans, and it's one of the most honest hours you'll spend on what this country actually owes the people who ran toward the fire.
Rob Serra is a legendary FDNY firefighter whose first day on the job was September 11, 2001. He's spent the twenty-plus years since…
The Brief
→ Four things from today’s episodeRob learns another FDNY firefighter has died of a 9/11 illne. Rob learns another FDNY firefighter has died of a 9/11 illness 30 minutes before recording — and drops the running count: 257 FDNY, close to 500 NYPD, thousands of civilians
Why "never forget" has become a punchline. and what it should actually mean
The moral injury connecting sick 9/11 responders and abandon. The moral injury connecting sick 9/11 responders and abandoned Afghanistan veterans: same broken promise, same government
Rob on the 13 shot glasses lining bars after Kabul. "Where the fuck were the glasses for the last 20 years?"
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