Roll of Honor
Incident
Sergeant Bill McLean died as the result of cancer that he developed following his assignment as a SWAT operator at the World Trade Center site following the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks.
Sergeant McLean had served with the Town of Newburgh Police Department for 26 years.
September 11, 2001 - The Years After
Sergeant William E. McLean, III was assigned to the search and recovery at the World Trade Center site after September 11, 2001. He was 34 years old that fall.
He died on May 5, 2024 - 22 years and 7 months later - of an illness contracted there. He was 56.
He is one of 599 officers honored here.
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 was survived by his wife, son, daughter, parents, twin brother, and sister.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-NY-F4F48D99- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- April 2, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
You walked into it and it took years to finish the job.
Sergeant McLean gave the Town of Newburgh Police Department 26 years.
Thank you for your service to the Newburgh community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Sergeant McLean.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Sergeant William E. McLean, III is one of 2,974 officers lost to illness connected to their service across the full record of this memorial — 9.1% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In NY, 629 of 2,147 officers were lost to illness connected to their service — 29.3% of this state's fallen. That is 20.2 percentage points above the national rate of 9.1%.
National Cause Distribution
How Illness compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. William E. McLean, III's cause is highlighted.
How William E. McLean, III Compares
Offender Outcome
19 suicide attackers
When Illness Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Illness deaths across the full memorial record. William E. McLean, III is highlighted in May.