At NYPD Memorial Service
Remember 8 Cops Who Were Post-9/11 Casualties

By MIA GOLDBERG

In the first official acknowledgment by the Bloomberg administration that deaths caused by post-9/11 recovery and clean-up work were job-related, Mayor Bloomberg and Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly May 7 honored eight police officers who succumbed to illnesses linked to inhaling toxic air while working at Ground Zero, along with three other officers who died in the line of duty, during NYPD Memorial Day.

The Chief-Leader/Adrienne Haywood James SON'S SACRIFICE REMEMBERED: Tatyana and Leonid Timoshenko stand with Msgr. Robert J. Romano, the NYPD's Deputy Chief Chaplain, following memorial service honoring their son, Russel, and 10 other cops who died in the line of duty.

Family members fought for years to convince the city that those officers' fatal illnesses should be classified as line-of-duty deaths, allowing the families to collect disability pensions equal to 75 percent of the officers' final salaries. The Police Pension Fund's board ultimately deemed all eight families were entitled to the benefits.

'Put Themselves in Harm's Way'

"All eleven of these men put themselves in harm's way to protect us," said the Mayor. "Their names are forever inscribed in the hearts of those who knew them, and today they will be inscribed on the Wall of Heroes . . . so that future generations will know of their courage and sacrifice."

The post-9/11 honorees were Police Officers James Godbe, Thomas Brophy, Ronald Weintraub and Angelo Peluso, and Dets. James Zadroga, John Young, Kevin Hawkins and Robert Williamson.

The Mayor spoke first about the other three honorees - Auxiliary Police Officers Eugene Marshalik and Nicholas Pekearo, who were killed trying to apprehend a gunman in Greenwich Village in March 2007 and Detective Russel Timoshenko, who was shot and killed during a car stop in Brooklyn last year. He cited the accomplishments of each individual officer, particularly noting the long and distinguished careers of the eight who worked at Ground Zero and the Fresh Kills Landfill, three of whom served for over 20 years.

'Risked Everything'

"This year we also pay tribute to eight members of the department who worked on the rescue and recovery efforts after the terrorist attacks of 9/11," he said. "These brave men risked everything to help lift our nation back onto its feet during this time of greatest need." He made no mention of how they died, in stark contrast to Commissioner Kelly's speech.

RAYMOND W. KELLY: 'Heroism didn't end on 9/11.'

"In the history of the NYPD, there has never been a day like Sept. 11 .. in the space of a few short hours we lost 23 officers," said Mr. Kelly. "But the truth is we continue to suffer losses because the toll did not end that day - nor did the heroism of those who answered the call of duty. We remember eight officers who died from illnesses directly related to their service on Sept. 11 and the weeks that followed."

Joseph Zadroga, whose Detective son James died in 2006 of respiratory disease after working for more than 450 hours at Ground Zero, said that Mr. Kelly's direct acknowledgement that his son and others were killed in the line of duty was appropriate and meaningful.

"I'm very proud that they finally recognized Jimmy and the other officers from 9/11," he said after the ceremony. "That's what we wanted from the beginning."

Detective Zadroga's death was the first to "officially" be deemed linked to his post-9/11 work by a New Jersey Medical Examiner. The claim was disputed by the city's Medical Examiner, Dr. Charles S. Hirsch, with whom the Mayor initially sided.

In a May 8 e-mail, a spokesman for the Mayor wrote, "The pension board said [their deaths] were in the line of duty, so they are," adding that the Mayor's decision to speak about their careers rather then their deaths in no way suggested otherwise.