Thirty-nine members of the Fire Department of New York who died from illnesses tied to the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks were added Tuesday to the department’s World Trade Center memorial at its Brooklyn headquarters, bringing the total names on the wall to 402.
Family members, colleagues and city officials attended the ceremony as a bell was rung for each fallen firefighter and a representative came forward to place a white rose beneath the name called aloud. Photos of the deceased were shown on a screen as the room filled with tears and applause.
The newly added names include firefighters and officers whose illnesses were linked by medical experts to their exposures at Ground Zero and the surrounding sites in the weeks and months after the attacks. Before the ceremony there were 363 names on the wall; Tuesday’s additions brought the total to 402, a number the department said reflects those who contracted cancers, respiratory ailments and other conditions associated with 9/11 rescue and recovery efforts.
Among the firefighters memorialized was retired Deputy Chief Nicholas J. Doherty, who served three decades with the department and died Sept. 20, 2024, at age 80. His daughter, Nicole Doherty, recounted how the family learned he had been at Ground Zero on Sept. 11, 2001. "He drove straight to the World Trade Center. He spent the whole day and night there. We did not know his whereabouts," she said, adding that colleagues later told the family they had seen him at the site.
Firefighter Christopher J. Revere, who joined the FDNY in 1987 and retired in 2003, was also added to the wall. His wife said he died March 26 at 9:11 a.m., a time she described as a sign. Firefighter Jose L. Hickson, 66, who dropped everything to rush to the towers after the attacks and later died of cancer on April 9, 2024, was another of the names read.
The list also included Capt. Thomas S. LaBarbiera, 51, who died Sept. 1, 2024. LaBarbiera followed his father and two uncles into the FDNY and was running in an FDNY T-shirt on Sept. 11 when an NYPD officer told him of the attacks; he went home, grabbed his gear and reported to his firehouse. Firefighter Thomas L. Dunn, 52, whose brother Jimmy had been added to the wall after dying in 2017, was remembered for his post-retirement advocacy, including multiple trips to Washington to lobby for first-responder benefits.
Lt. James S. Cooney Sr., 77, who grew up around his father’s firehouse, served 25 years in the FDNY and four years with the NYPD; his two sons now serve in the department. Lt. Anthony S. Cozzino, 51, an EMT who joined the department in 1997 and retired in 2023, died Sept. 7, 2024, two months after being diagnosed with cancer. His wife, Lori Cozzino, said that while he kept his personal life private, "when he put that uniform on and went out into the city, he was so much more to so many people. It’s always so bittersweet, and beautiful, and sad. We’re just always honored."
The FDNY lost 343 members in the attacks on Sept. 11, 2001. The New York Police Department lost 23 members that day, and nearly 3,000 people in total were killed in the attacks, according to official counts. In the years since, thousands more first responders and survivors have developed illnesses linked to toxic exposures at Ground Zero and other sites. Health programs and researchers estimate that more than 45,000 people continue to experience health effects tied to the attacks and that roughly 1,900 have died of 9/11-related complications.
Officials and families at the ceremony emphasized both grief and the continuing recognition of sacrifice. A bell tolled each time a name was called, and the presentation of roses provided a tangible moment for relatives and colleagues to honor those who responded on Sept. 11 and in the days that followed.
The additions to the memorial reflect an ongoing process of recognizing firefighters whose deaths have been attributed to conditions linked to their service at Ground Zero. The department said it will continue to update the memorial as officials confirm additional cases and as families request inclusion.
Tuesday’s ceremony followed the department’s tradition of formal observances that mark both the immediate losses on Sept. 11 and the longer-term toll on first responders. Family members said the annual recognitions are painful but necessary, providing public acknowledgment of service and a place to remember those who later died from illnesses connected to their efforts on and after the day of the attacks.