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Pictured above is Weisberg and Chip.
On the day the World Trade Centers collapsed, Commack firefighter Robert Weisberg heroically volunteered with the FDNY and got injured in the process. Now he will be going on a life changing journey to raise money for Paws of War.
On 9/11, Weisberg was at the World Trade Center when the first plane struck the North Tower. He responded to FDNY’s 10 House across from the Twin Towers where he was immediately assigned with preparing the first triage. Not long after, the tower collapsed and he got trapped and injured.
“I was underneath the Trade center when the first plane hit,” Weisberg said. “The second plane then flew over us in the second tower and then things started to go sideways. The first collapse came down and we were trapped. We were trapped inside the firehouse. We had a jet engine from one of the planes coming through the firehouse and it crushed the ambulance that we were going to use to evacuate people that were hurt.”
Weisberg suffers from PTSD to this day. In 2019, he discovered Paws of War and adopted a service dog named Chip. Chip has assisted Weisberg in coping with his PTSD.
“He helps me stay focused, stay grounded, stay the way people should be,” he said. “When you’re having PTSD you can be in a full room with all of your friends and you don’t feel sometimes that you’re part of what’s going on. He helps me to stay in the moment.”
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Weisberg and other first responders and veterans attend regular dog training programs and see Paws of War as a safe haven and support center where bonds are built and relationships made. He is now raising money for Paws of War in order to help other veterans and first responders with PTSD or any other service related injuries by hiking the Appalachian Trail from Georgia to Maine.
The Appalachian Trail is a daunting journey to complete. Hikers face dangerous trail conditions, ever changing weather, bears, poisonous snakes and only 25 percent of those who attempt the journey complete it. Weisberg has been training for this task for months by doing research, exercising at the gym, doing time in the woods and contacting people who have done the trail before.
“My plan is to start hiking on March 11 and finish September 11,” he said. “You just have to be flexible and you can’t get discouraged. A lot of research, a lot of time at the gym, time in the woods and it’s not just one thing. The whole planning aspect and doing the research so that my plans seem reasonable.”
Weisberg will raise the money through the Paws of War Network For Good website. All donations will be based on cents per mile or people’s own custom amount.
