Roll of Honor
John Hess
Incident
Location: Virginia Incident Date: Tuesday, September 11, 2001 Weapon: Aircraft; Passenger jet Offender: 19 suicide attackers
Associate Director Jack Hess died as the result of cancer he developed from being exposed to hazardous materials during recovery efforts at the Pentagon following the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks.
Director Hess had served with the United States Department of Justice - Federal Bureau of Investigation for 21 years. Before retiring, he was the Associate Director of National Intelligence. He is survived by his wife, who also serves with the FBI, three sons, a daughter, two sisters, nieces, and nephews. His father had also served in law enforcement.
September 11, 2001 - The Years After
Associate Director John Hess was assigned to the search and recovery at the World Trade Center site after September 11, 2001. He was 43 years old that fall.
He died on August 4, 2023 - 21 years and 10 months later - of an illness contracted there. He was 64.
He is one of 599 officers honored here, and one of 19 at United States Department of Justice - Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The most recent of these deaths was October 24, 2025.
Officers who worked the search, rescue, and recovery at the World Trade Center site breathed contaminated air for weeks and months afterward. Many developed cancers and respiratory disease, and they have gone on dying of it ever since.
Seventy-two officers were killed on the morning itself. Hundreds more have died in the years that followed. They are honored here together, because the same attack killed them all. With some it simply took longer.
Survivors
He is survived by his wife, who also serves with the FBI, three sons, a daughter, two sisters, nieces, and nephews.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-FED-317D5A8D- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- August 2, 2026
- Last updated
- August 2, 2026
Honored here by 1 tribute.
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Tributes
You walked into it and it took years to finish the job.
Associate Director Hess gave the United States Department of Justice 21 years.
Thank you for your service. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Associate Director Hess.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Associate Director John Hess is one of 1 officers lost to illness connected to their service across the full record of this memorial — 0% of all 97,772 officers honored here.
In DC, 137 of 1,418 officers were lost to illness connected to their service — 9.7% of this state's fallen. That is 9.7 percentage points above the national rate of 0%.
At United States Department of Justice - Federal Bureau of Investigation, 20 of 89 officers on record were lost to illness connected to their service — 22.5% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Illness compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. John Hess's cause is highlighted.
How John Hess Compares
When Illness Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Illness deaths across the full memorial record. John Hess is highlighted in Aug.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
88 officers from United States Department of Justice - Federal Bureau of Investigation are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
