Roll of Honor
Incident
Police Officer Paul McCabe died as the result of cancer that he developed following his assignment to the search and recovery efforts at the World Trade Center site following the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks.
Officer McCabe was a U.S Army Vietnam War veteran and had served with the Nassau County Police Department for 47 years.
September 11, 2001 - The Years After
Police Officer Paul J. McCabe was assigned to the search and recovery at the World Trade Center site after September 11, 2001. He was 58 years old that fall.
He died on September 25, 2015 - 14 years later - of an illness contracted there. He was 72.
He is one of 599 officers honored here, and one of 14 at Nassau County Police Department.
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, three sons, a daughter, a brother, and ten grandchildren.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-NY-C485E0A4- 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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Also honored at salute.nw. One record, 2 gates. Paul is one person.
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Tributes
You walked into it and it took years to finish the job.
Police Officer McCabe gave the Nassau County Police Department 47 years.
Thank you for your service to the Mineola community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Police Officer McCabe.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Military Service
Paul J. McCabe served in the the United States military before joining law enforcement.
Police Officer Paul J. McCabe is one of 1 officers lost to illness connected to their service across the full record of this memorial — 0% of all 97,759 officers honored here.
In NY, 655 of 2,147 officers were lost to illness connected to their service — 30.5% of this state's fallen. That is 30.5 percentage points above the national rate of 0%.
At Nassau County Police Department, 16 of 51 officers on record were lost to illness connected to their service — 31.4% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Illness compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Paul J. McCabe's cause is highlighted.
How Paul J. McCabe Compares
When Illness Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Illness deaths across the full memorial record. Paul J. McCabe is highlighted in Sep.
Incident Location
Military Service
Paul J. McCabe served in the United States military before joining law enforcement.
Visit Paul J. McCabe’s page on salute.nw →
His full service record — units, decorations, where he served — is kept on salute.nw.
Others Who Wore This Badge
50 officers from Nassau County Police Department are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
