William E. Doubraski
Agency patch
Lieutenant

William E. Doubraski

Veteran → Illness
End of Watch November 23, 2020
Age 72
Tour of Duty 30 yrs
The Vigil Panel 173 ›
Gender Male

Incident

Lieutenant William Doubraski 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.

Lieutenant Doubraski was a U.S. Marine Corps veteran of the Vietnam War and had served with the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Police Department for thirty years.

September 11, 2001 - The Years After

Lieutenant William E. Doubraski was assigned to the search and recovery at the World Trade Center site after September 11, 2001. He was 53 years old that fall.

He died on November 23, 2020 - 19 years and 2 months later - of an illness contracted there. He was 72.

He is one of 599 officers honored here, and one of 18 at Port Authority of New York and New Jersey 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, stepson, and sister.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier
BO-US-NY-674892B6
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 — U.S. Marine Corps. One record, 2 gates. William is one person.

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Tributes

You walked into it and it took years to finish the job.
Lieutenant Doubraski gave the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Police Department 30 years.
Thank you for your service to the Jersey City community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Lieutenant Doubraski.

— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993

Agency

Type Police Department
Location Jersey City, NJ
Platform Identity panynjpd.hudson.nj.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch November 23, 2020
Tour of Duty 30 yrs
Age 72
Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Illness
Cause Detail 9/11 related illness
Weapon Aircraft; Passenger jet
Laid to Rest Arlington National Cemetery · August 9, 2022

Military Service

William E. Doubraski served in the U.S. Marine Corps before joining law enforcement.

View full service record on salute.nw →

Lieutenant William E. Doubraski 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 NJ, 112 of 646 officers were lost to illness connected to their service — 17.3% of this state's fallen. That is 17.3 percentage points above the national rate of 0%.

At Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Police Department, 53 of 60 officers on record were lost to illness connected to their service — 88.3% of this agency's fallen.

Port Authority of New York and New Jersey Police Department
53
of 60 officers
88.3% Illness
NJ — Statewide
112
of 646 officers
17.3% Illness
Nationwide
1
of 97,759 officers
0% Illness

National Cause Distribution

How Illness compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. William E. Doubraski's cause is highlighted.

Felonious
1 (0%)
Accident
1 (0%)
Illness
1 (0%)
Cardiac
1 (0%)
Undetermined
1 (0%)
Suicide
1 (0%)

How William E. Doubraski Compares

Age at Death
72
This officer
Avg for Illness: 47.7 years
Years of Service
30
This officer
Avg for Illness: 18.7 years

When Illness Deaths Occur

Monthly distribution of Illness deaths across the full memorial record. William E. Doubraski is highlighted in Nov.

Jan
294
Feb
198
Mar
186
Apr
226
May
201
Jun
182
Jul
217
Aug
281
Sep
353
Oct
376
Nov
239
Dec
285

Incident Location

Military Service

William E. Doubraski served in the U.S. Marine Corps before joining law enforcement.

Visit William E. Doubraski’s page on salute.nw →

His full service record — units, decorations, where he served — is kept on salute.nw.

Laid to Rest

Cemetery Arlington National Cemetery
Interred August 9, 2022
Section QQ

Directions to Arlington National Cemetery →