Union: Retired Cop's Death Linked To 9/11 Cleanup

James Zadroga, 34, Died Thursday At His Home In Little Egg Harbor Township, Ocean County

LITTLE EGG HARBOR, N.J. A retired, 34-year-old New York City police officer from Ocean County who spent hundreds of hours searching for Sept. 11 victims at ground zero has died of respiratory disease related to the cleanup, union officials said.

James Zadroga, who retired as a detective from Manhattan’s South Homicide task force in 2004, is the first emergency responder to die as a result of exposure to World Trade Center dust and debris, said Michael Palladino, president of the Detectives’ Endowment Association.

“Although James is the first, unfortunately I do not think he is going to be the last,” Palladino said Saturday.

Zadroga died Thursday at his home in Little Egg Harbor, N.J., officials said. Results of an autopsy conducted by the Ocean County medical examiner’s office were pending.

But Zadroga had developed black lung disease and mercury on the brain as a result of working at ground zero, Palladino said. Zadroga spent 470 hours in the first month after the Sept. 11, 2001, collapse of the trade center in rescue and recovery efforts, working up to 16 hours a day at the site, Palladino said.

He developed shortness of breath and other respiratory problems in the months after the attacks, and retired on disability in 2004.

A majority of residents and ground zero workers tracked by several different registries monitoring the participants’ health have reported worsening respiratory problems in the years since the attacks.

Zadroga, a 13-year veteran of the force, is survived by a 4-year-old daughter, his parents and a brother. His wife died of cancer in late 2004, Palladino said. A wake was scheduled Sunday and Monday and a funeral Mass on Tuesday in North Arlington, N.J.



“In memory of fallen officers everywhere”

I NEVER DREAMED IT WOULD BE ME,
MY NAME FOR ALL ETERNITY.
RECORDED HERE AT THIS HALLOWED PLACE,
ALAS MY NAME, NO MORE MY FACE.
”IN THE LINE OF DUTY” I HEAR THEM SAY,
MY FAMILY NOW HAS THE PRICE TO PAY.
MY FOLDED FLAG STAINED WITH TEARS,
WE ONLY HAD THOSE FEW SHORT YEARS.
THE BADGE NO LONGER ON MY CHEST,
I SLEEP NOW IN ETERNAL REST.
MY SWORD I PASS TO THOSE BEHIND,
AND PRAY THEY KEEP THIS IN MIND.
I NEVER THOUGHT IT WOULD BE ME,
AND WITH HEAVY HEART ON BENDED KNEE,
I ASK FOR ALL THOSE HERE FROM THE PAST,
PLEASE GOD, “LET MY NAME BE THE LAST!”