Roll of Honor
Incident
Location: New York Incident Date: Tuesday, September 11, 2001 Weapon: Aircraft; Passenger jet Offender: 19 suicide attackers
Lieutenant Bill Fearon died as the result of a rare form of cancer that he developed following recovery work he performed at the World Trade Center for two years following the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks.
Lieutenant Fearon had served with the New Jersey State Police for 22 years.
September 11, 2001 - The Years After
Lieutenant William George Fearon 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 December 28, 2016 - 15 years and 3 months later - of an illness contracted there. He was 49.
He is one of 599 officers honored here, and one of 10 at New Jersey State Police.
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 and three children.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-NJ-3524AB03- 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.
Lieutenant Fearon gave the New Jersey State Police 22 years.
Thank you for your service to the people of New Jersey. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Lieutenant Fearon.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Lieutenant William George Fearon 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 NJ, 77 of 646 officers were lost to illness connected to their service — 11.9% of this state's fallen. That is 2.8 percentage points above the national rate of 9.1%.
At New Jersey State Police, 13 of 84 officers on record were lost to illness connected to their service — 15.5% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Illness compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. William George Fearon's cause is highlighted.
How William George Fearon Compares
Offender Outcome
19 suicide attackers
When Illness Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Illness deaths across the full memorial record. William George Fearon is highlighted in Dec.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
83 officers from New Jersey State Police are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
