Remembering an American Hero, 9/11 Volunteer & Big I NY Member
By Tim Dodge, AVP of Research & Information
Today, the country marks the twenty-fifth anniversary of one of the darkest days in its history. The cruel attacks carried out by ruthless criminals on September 11, 2001 forever changed the United States and the world.
I won’t rehash memories of that awful day; anyone who wants to can watch YouTube videos or read thousands of remembrances online. Instead, I want to focus on one individual who played a role in the aftermath.
Robert Jeffrey Rehm (Jeff, as he referred to himself) was the owner of East End Insurance in Suffolk County, Long Island. He was very active in the local association now known as Big I Suffolk, serving as president for one term and legislative chair for 25 years. He was a regular at Big I New York and national Big I legislative events.
Jeff was passionate in his commitment to meeting the insurance needs of his clients, often vocally so. His frequent calls to Big I New York’s research department were typically complaints about insurers’ reluctance to write Homeowners insurance on eastern Long Island after Hurricane Andrew devastated south Florida in 1992. More than once, he quoted the exact date that a major insurer announced that it was restricting the amount of insurance it would provide there. I believe Jeff took this as a personal affront to his clients and his community. People needed to insure their homes. Big insurance companies had the money to provide it but they were unwilling to do so. Jeff saw this as an injustice that he never stopped fighting against.
But there was more to Jeff than that. I will confess that I met him in person only a handful of times, mostly at our legislative events, and thus did not really know him well. However, I do recall him calling me once and happily telling me that his cancer was in remission. I had no idea that he was suffering from cancer. I don’t know what caused it, but I suspect that his service to his country may have played a part.
According to his obituary, Jeff enlisted in the army when he was barely 20 years old and served from 1968 to 1970. Note that he enlisted; he was not drafted. During those two years, the army awarded him these medals:
- Purple Heart
- National Defense Service Medal
- Vietnam Service Medal
- Vietnam Campaign Medal
- Combat Infantryman’s Badge
In short, Jeff voluntarily joined the army at a time when it was not popular to do so, saw combat during one of the most unpopular wars in our history, and suffered injuries. I don’t know what the injuries were, but I’m reasonably certain the military does not award Purple Hearts for sprained ankles. I am sure he saw and experienced things that no one, let alone a 21-year-old kid, should have to see.
I didn’t know he was a Vietnam veteran. He called me often about insurance problems and never once mentioned his experience in war.
I do remember him mentioning once that he had worked on the cleanup at the former site of the World Trade Center after the attacks. That’s what led me to look him up today. After his military career ended, he returned home, married the woman he would be with for the next 54 years, went into the insurance business, and also joined the Cutchogue Fire Department (CFD) in Cutchogue, New York. He served in that department for 30 years. The department named him “firefighter of the year” in 1993, and he was an officer in it for a time.
A passing mention in the memorial to him on the CFD’s website states that he was “among a group of CFD members who responded to NYC to assist at the WTC in the days following September 11th.”
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention:
“In Lower Manhattan, the plane crashes—which resulted in the collapse of the Twin Towers—created massive dust clouds that filled the air and left hundreds of highly populated city blocks covered with ash, debris, and harmful particles, including asbestos, silica, metals, concrete, and glass. Fires within the debris pile and the collapse of 7 WTC burned through the end of December 2001 with continued flare-ups in 2002, releasing carcinogenic combustion by-products. These contaminants remained in Lower Manhattan and parts of Brooklyn for an undetermined amount of time after 9/11. Responders, local workers, residents, students, and others had potential for acute exposures in the early days and continuing exposure from residual materials—indoors and outside—as well as exposure to toxic gases, smoke, vapors, and combustion by-products from continuing fires.”
It was dangerous to be there. Jeff went anyway.
Keep in mind that this was 30 years after his service in Vietnam, where soldiers were exposed to Agent Orange and other chemicals that later caused serious health problems. Because he responded when his country and his fellow firefighters called, Jeff had two strikes against him. Eventually, that third pitch came. He passed away in July 2024.
Today is a sad anniversary. Innocent lives ended in an unspeakably brutal fashion and we must not lose sight of the devastating loss. However, as we remember our sorrow and anger, we should also remember heroes like Jeff Rehm. Whether he was fighting the Viet Cong, a house fire in his community, an insurance company withholding its services, or the ghastly remains of a vicious attack, Jeff cared. When people needed him, he was there. All of us would be lucky to have words like that on our epitaphs.
I salute you, Jeff Rehm, for all that you did for me as an American, for your insurance clients, for the residents of your town in frightening circumstances, and for responding at our country’s darkest hour. As long as there are people like Jeff, there will always be hope for our country and our world.
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