At 9 a.m., board members and staff of the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund (NLEOMF) gathered along Panels 9 through 22 of the memorial’s west wall, where the names of the 72 officers are engraved together on Line 23. Following brief remarks, the officers' names were read aloud, and a wreath and commemorative poster in their honor was laid.
“With the passage of time, the horrific events of 9/11 seem to have faded a bit from our collective consciousness,” said NLEOMF Chairman and CEO Craig W. Floyd. “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.”
Among the law enforcement officers who died on 9/11 were 71 killed at the World Trade Center, plus one officer – Richard Guadagno, a sworn refuge manager with the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service – who 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 of New York and New Jersey Police Force, including its superintendent, Fred Morrone, died on 9/11. That number represents the most fatalities suffered by a single law enforcement agency in one day in U.S. history.
Also killed at the World Trade Center that day were 23 members of the New York City 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 NLEOMF Web site. The National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial contains the names of 18,661 officers who have died in the line of duty throughout U.S. history.