Today marks the one year anniversary of John McNamara, 9/11 Firefighter HERO, succumbing to the cancer he got as a direct result of his service to his country on 9/11. I found the following video - made last year - on FB, and have to share it here.

This video is shared with permission of Anthony Emanuele, who created a page on FaceBook that says:

The purpose of this page is to show support for 9/11 Responders by gathering voices in passing Bill HR-847. We ask that concerned citizens and even those from other nations join us in lobbying to gain the attention of politicians who are in a position to recognize our plight. We need voices to speak out for the ones we lost and those that will be gone....

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We need voices to speak out for the ones we lost and those that will be gone.

As a Responder myself, many of my friends died on 9/11 and more are sick or have died since. Many have suffered due to medical expenses, inadequate insurance or denials of medical coverage. As well, many First Responders’ families have suffered due to not only illness and deaths related to 9/11, but the added financial stress caused by lack of adequate coverage during their most difficult times. Some have even lost their homes due to medical costs and inadequate benefits.

The passing of Bill HR-847 will allow these Responders, their spouses and children, to focus on their medical needs without added fear and stress for their financial survival.

I myself was outraged when President Obama did a 180 on the 9/11 health bill.

PLEASE – WE MUST BE HEARD ON THIS ISSUE. Call and be nice - like the decent people we are - but be strong and let DC know... we were here when all HELL BROKE OUT - NOW PLEASE BE HERE FOR US!!!

Let’s get Bill HR-847 is passed before someone else dies thinking his or her country let them down.

Go and read more about this group and their mission on FB, here. The title of that group on FB is:

Tell Obama to help sick and dying 9-11 responders, by Anthony Emanuele

Their mission, simply put, is to ensure that every first responder who served on 9/11, has the health care services WE OWE every single one of those heroes who selflessly ran to help their fellow Americans on that terrible day.

From the little research I have done on this, it appears that the politicians, as always, are dragging their heels, playing politics. As they do that, we lose more of our 9/11 heroes to illnesses that they would never have been exposed to if they had turned away on 9/11.

Please join this group, and also read Bill HR 847 here.

What follows is a CBS interview that John did. Take a look:

This video is part of an article which has lots more vital information on this important issue. Go - now - and read that here.

It is a national disgrace that nine years after the worst terrorist attack on US soil, politicians are still refusing to properly - and permanently - take care of those heroes who took care of Americans on 9/11.

John's widow Jennifer in an interview last January:

Wife of late 9/11 firefighter John McNamara 'heartbroken' over Obama's lack of support for plan

DAILY NEWS WASHINGTON BUREAU Sunday, January 31st 2010, 4:00 AM

Gabel for News
Jennifer McNamara, here with her son Jack, lost her husband, 9/11 firefighter John McNamara, last August of cancer. She's no longer sure if she should give President Obama her husband's badge.

Sabo/News
FDNY firefighter John McNamara died at the age of 44 and was an 'ardent supporter' of Obama, his wife says.

Gabel for News

As noted in his final wishes, John asked for his ashes to be scattered in special places and for his wife to build a community center for kids in his hometown.

WASHINGTON - Jennifer McNamara wants to honor her late husband's dying wish and give the city firefighter's badge to President Obama.

Only, she's no longer sure she should.

Or that John McNamara, who spent 500 hours at Ground Zero and died last August of cancer at the age of 44, would think Obama still deserves it.

Her problem: She and her husband believed in the President, voted for him, and believed he would ensure the feds passed a law to permanently care for others who answered the call after 9/11.

She began having doubts in December, when key politicians backed away from promises to pass the funding. She went to the Daily News for help reaching the White House to explain her agonizing dilemma.

"I wish he would just support this," McNamara said of the President. "Then I could give him the badge in good conscience. I'd like to know that it's meaningful to him."
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Jennifer learned Thursday the White House plans to spend $150 million on 9/11-related illness next year - a good thing, she said.

But the Obama administration doesn't support mandatory funding of an $11 billion, 30-year plan stalled in Congress that would guarantee care to all of the 60,000 people being monitored for potential illness.

"I'm really so disgusted. I'm so disappointed," she said. "I'm heartbroken because I think of how John would have reacted to this."

John wanted that bill passed not so much for firefighters, who have medical care, but for the volunteers, construction workers and other workers who do not.

"This is his biggest issue," McNamara said. "When he was at Sloan[-Kettering], he walked the halls looking for other 9/11 responders so he could talk to them, looking for ways to help," she remembered. "That's just who he was. He cared passionately about people."

While he was dying, he drew up a list of last wishes, even as he believed he could beat the disease and see his son, Jack, now 3, grow to be a good man.

"His last wish was he never wanted me to use the list," his wife, 42, said. "He wanted to live."