IN MEMORIAM
Luis Gustavo Álvarez, (Havana, 1965-New York 2019) Cuban American Hero, R.I.P.
Luis Gustavo Álvarez, who before becoming an NYPD Detective and Bomb Squad member, had served in the U.S. Marine Corp, has died at age 53 of colorectal cancer, diagnosed in 2016, linked to his three-month exposure to contamination at Ground Zero following the 9/11/2001 Terrorist Attack on the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. His job at “the rubble” was to search for victims, dead or alive.
A few days before his death he testified in the U.S. Congress in favor of continued funding for the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund given that many more of his fellow 50,000 first-responders are continually being diagnosed with illness related to their heroic service. After the Marines he studied at the City University of New York, joining the NYPD in 1990 in Queens followed by the Narcotics Division, being twice promoted. In 2004 he volunteered for the Bomb Squad.
His survivors include mother, Aida; father, Felipe; wife, Alaine Parker; sons, David, Tyler and Benjamin; sister, Aida Lugo; and brothers, Fernando and Phil.
