thedrifter
11-02-08, 07:40 AM
Awards day for former Marine who helped Sgt. Eddie Ryan
Local businessman honored for aiding injured soldier
By Doyle Murphy
Times Herald-Record
November 02, 2008 6:00 AM
WEST POINT — Barry Fixler was running his jewelry store two years ago in Rockland County. Marine Sgt. Eddie Ryan was struggling at Helen Hayes Hospital to recover pieces of his old life.
This could have been the way things stayed. It's not, and Ryan family members are glad for that. They greeted Fixler as an old friend Saturday at the Thayer Hotel on West Point's campus.
Two years ago, the Ryans had already begun their struggle against the United States Veterans Administration to get the treatment he needed.
They liked the staff at Helen Hayes but wanted to bring Eddie home, and they needed to renovate their Ellenville house to suit his needs.
At the hospital, Eddie had a nurse named Linda. The Ryans had become close to her and, one day, she asked if her husband could meet Eddie. He had served in the Marines during Vietnam and wanted to speak to Eddie.
Linda's husband was Barry Fixler. He looked around Eddie's room and said, "I'd like to do something for Eddie."
"And, boy, did he," Eddie said, helping retell the story on Saturday.
Fixler ran a four-day promotion around Valentine's Day at Barry's Estate Jewelry store in Bardonia and donated all the money to Eddie.
"People came in, people came in, and people came in," Fixler said. "Even if they didn't want to buy something, people would come in to donate." Fixler began showing up with bags of cash to hand over. That money helped complete the renovations on the Ryans' house. People still come in every day and ask about Eddie, Fixler said.
All this led to Saturday. Barry and Linda Fixler sat with the Ryans in a banquet hall in the posh Thayer hotel.
Radio host and Guardian Angels Founder Curtis Sliwa was at the mic as part of an WABC radio event in which listeners had written in, nominating men and women who have honorably served the country.
"I want to tell you about a great American hero," Sliwa said. "His name is Barry Fixler."
The Fixlers and Ryans went to the front of the room together. They passed tables of other honorees: World War II veterans, the family of an old football player who died in Vietnam, an ex-paratrooper and New Jersey cop named Jon Schramm who walks again after a criminal's bullet slammed into his spine.
Everyone in the room stood and clapped.
dmurphy@th-record.com
Ellie
Local businessman honored for aiding injured soldier
By Doyle Murphy
Times Herald-Record
November 02, 2008 6:00 AM
WEST POINT — Barry Fixler was running his jewelry store two years ago in Rockland County. Marine Sgt. Eddie Ryan was struggling at Helen Hayes Hospital to recover pieces of his old life.
This could have been the way things stayed. It's not, and Ryan family members are glad for that. They greeted Fixler as an old friend Saturday at the Thayer Hotel on West Point's campus.
Two years ago, the Ryans had already begun their struggle against the United States Veterans Administration to get the treatment he needed.
They liked the staff at Helen Hayes but wanted to bring Eddie home, and they needed to renovate their Ellenville house to suit his needs.
At the hospital, Eddie had a nurse named Linda. The Ryans had become close to her and, one day, she asked if her husband could meet Eddie. He had served in the Marines during Vietnam and wanted to speak to Eddie.
Linda's husband was Barry Fixler. He looked around Eddie's room and said, "I'd like to do something for Eddie."
"And, boy, did he," Eddie said, helping retell the story on Saturday.
Fixler ran a four-day promotion around Valentine's Day at Barry's Estate Jewelry store in Bardonia and donated all the money to Eddie.
"People came in, people came in, and people came in," Fixler said. "Even if they didn't want to buy something, people would come in to donate." Fixler began showing up with bags of cash to hand over. That money helped complete the renovations on the Ryans' house. People still come in every day and ask about Eddie, Fixler said.
All this led to Saturday. Barry and Linda Fixler sat with the Ryans in a banquet hall in the posh Thayer hotel.
Radio host and Guardian Angels Founder Curtis Sliwa was at the mic as part of an WABC radio event in which listeners had written in, nominating men and women who have honorably served the country.
"I want to tell you about a great American hero," Sliwa said. "His name is Barry Fixler."
The Fixlers and Ryans went to the front of the room together. They passed tables of other honorees: World War II veterans, the family of an old football player who died in Vietnam, an ex-paratrooper and New Jersey cop named Jon Schramm who walks again after a criminal's bullet slammed into his spine.
Everyone in the room stood and clapped.
dmurphy@th-record.com
Ellie