A few years after I retired, I was searching online to view the New York Fire Department’s Memorial Wall. I fully expected to see my grandfather’s name listed, as I was always told he, my paternal grandfather firefighter Thomas F. O’Brien, had died after sustaining an injury in a fire. After further research and inquiries, I learned that the FDNY had not recognized my grandfather’s death as in the line of duty and would not consider deeming it so until further information was provided.

I filed a Freedom of Information Act request with the FDNY in hopes of obtaining facts relating to the fire, the injury…