Three hundred and ninety-nine people who took the FDNY exam claimed that they lost a parent or a sibling or both in the line of duty. Most of the claims were untrue, reports Susan Edelman, NY Post.
Having lost a city firefighter, police officer or EMS worker sibling or parent in the line of duty, in the September 11th terrorist attacks or from a 9/11-linked illness can add points to your score.
Two candidates are definitely legitimate. The highest scoring candidate, Patrick Dowdell, who served as an Army captain in Afghanistan, lost his father, FDNY Lt. Kevin Dowdell, in the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001. Robert Tilearcio Jr.’s father, Robert Sr., died of World Trade Center-related brain cancer.
