The National Law Enforcement Officer's Memorial Fund (NLEOMF) is hosting a 9/11 memorial ceremony marking the 10-year anniversary of the 72 officers killed during that deadly day in American history.
U.S. Attorney General Eric H. Holder, Jr.; NLEOMF board members, supporters and staff; and dignitaries from law enforcement agencies that lost officers on 9/11 will attend the ceremony at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial in Washington D.C. for the ceremony at 10 a.m. on Sept. 9.
The names of the 72 officers are engraved together on Line 23 of Panels 9 through 22 of the memorial's west wall. Following brief remarks, the officers' names will be read aloud, and a wreath will be laid in their honor.
"Over the past 10 years, the horrific events of September 11, 2001 seem to have faded a bit from our collective consciousness. But the service and sacrifice of the 72 courageous law enforcement heroes who laid down their own lives that day for the safety and protection of others will always be remembered here at the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial," said Craig Floyd, the NLEOMF's chairman and chief executive.
Of law enforcement officers who died on 9/11, 71 killed at the World Trade Center and one officer — Richard Guadagno, a sworn refuge manager with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service — was among the passengers who died in Pennsylvania while fighting to regain control of Flight 93 from the terrorists. Thirty-seven members of the Port Authority Police Department, including Superintendent Fred Morrone, perished, which represents the most fatalities suffered by a single law enforcement agency on one day in U.S. history.
Also killed at the World Trade Center were 23 members of the New York Police Department; five members of the New York State Department of Taxation & Finance; three members of the New York State Office of Court Administration; a special agent with the FBI; a master special officer with the U.S. Secret Service; and a New York City fire marshal who had sworn law enforcement powers.
The names of all 72 officers killed on 9/11 can be found on the Memorial Fund's website at www.LawMemorial.org/911RollCall. The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial contains the names of 19,298 officers who have died in the line of duty throughout U.S. history.
