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MY STORY
I Fought for Families of Foreign Victims Killed on 9/11

After the shock of the attacks wore off, I resolved to somehow help disadvantaged victims. I'm national director of estate settlement for Mellon Financial, in Philadelphia, and I found that many foreign nationals who were killed had no one in the U.S. who qualified to be administrators of their estates. As a result, their families could not receive the benefits that were pouring in from all over the place.

In March 2002, the union representing the staff of Windows on the World (the restaurant on the 107th floor of the north tower) said it needed an estate administrator. I saw the opportunity to do my part.

The 12 victims I represented were on the breakfast crew at the restaurant. They were hard-working people. A number of them held down more than one job, and they were sending 50% to 80% of their pay back home to their families in Mexico, Peru, Ghana, Ivory Coast and elsewhere. Now, there's a half-finished house in Mexico that's a mute reminder of 9/11.

It's been a blizzard of paperwork. Each case required a separate file with affidavits, work records, letters and other materials to document what would be a fair settlement from the Victim Compensation Fund. I've volunteered hundreds of hours, while continuing to manage 30 people nationwide on my day job. Mellon knew it would take up a lot of my work time, but the company has been totally behind me.

The families found out in June that they'd each get anywhere from about $700,000 to $4.1 million. With such large sums, I'm concerned about what will happen after the family members return to their home countries. I've heard about vultures in their hometowns who may cheat them. We hope the families will trust us to continue working with them, but it's their decision.

I'm not a hero. That term is appropriate for the firefighters and police officers. The lawyers who volunteered and the employees of the Victim Compensation Fund have been wonderful under pressure, too. I just found that I could serve a small group of people who had a big need.

--As told to Jeffrey R. Kosnett