USS Arlington Sailors and Marines participate in Arctic Circle ceremony

The crew of USS Arlington and Marines from the 22nd Marine Expeditionary Unit became members of the Order of the Blue Nose, a Naval tradition, on April 22, 2022, reports the ship’s Petty Officer 1st Class John Bellino.

Sailing into the Arctic Circle brings ships’ crews into the realm of King of the North Boreas Rex. They must pass a series of challenges before earning the title of Blue Nose and entering the Order, in longstanding Naval tradition.

“It was a privilege to participate in a time honored Navy tradition as fun and unique as the ‘Blue Nose’ ceremony,” said Cpl. Henry Rodriguez, attached to the 22nd MEU. “This is something I’ll never forget from my time aboard the Arlington.”

USS Arlington (LPD 24) honors the 184 people killed during the 9/11 terrorist attacks who were aboard Flight 77 or in the Pentagon. Arlington’s crew recently completed exercises off the coast of Iceland, as part of their deployment with Task Force 61/2.

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Ground Zero survivors battle New York-Presbyterian Hospital which won’t accept 9/11 Health Program

New York-Presbyterian Hospital is causing problems for those sick from their exposure to World Trade Center toxins by refusing to accept  World Trade Center Health Program health insurance. Those already suffering from major illnesses now have to pay out of pocket for their care, and have the stress and worry of extra paperwork which the program is supposed to alleviate.

Pat Buttacavoli, whose husband Charlie is dealing with after-effects from stage-4 World Trade Center tongue cancer told Michael McAuliff of the New York Daily News, “New York-Presbyterian has always been a problem with the payments. I can spend, on a bad week, 30 to 40 hours trying to get his bills paid.” Some of those payments are made by the Buttacavolis, though those with covered conditions such as Charlie’s should not have to pay.

Other area hospitals have signed an agreement with the VCF, which New York-Presbyterian has failed to do.

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He was a 9/11 first responder. Now, Bryan Stern’s rescuing Ukrainians from war

Army & Navy combat veteran Bryan Stern, who worked during the World Trade Center recovery efforts, is now saving Ukrainian refugees.

“This is a humanitarian crisis on the scale of a natural disaster. This looks like Haiti after the earthquake,” he told Danielle Campoamor of Today . “Why do I do it? It’s kind of like, how could I not?

Stern co-founded Project Dynamo in 2021 to help civilians trapped in Afghanistan after US withdrawal. Project Dynamo is a group of combat veterans who travel around the world saving civilians from areas under fire. Since the Ukrainian attacks began, Project Dynamo has saved people from Ukraine, the US, Canada, the Netherlands, Afghanistan, and Poland.

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