Roll of Honor
Incident
Location: New York Incident Date: Tuesday, September 11, 2001 Weapon: Aircraft; Passenger jet Offender: 19 suicide attackers
Captain William Gawron 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.
Captain Gawron had served with the Sayreville Police Department for 30 years. After retirement, he served with the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
September 11, 2001 - The Years After
Captain William J. Gawron, Sr. was assigned to the search and recovery at the World Trade Center site after September 11, 2001. He was 48 years old that fall.
He died on May 4, 2023 - 21 years and 7 months later - of an illness contracted there. He was 69.
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 is survived by his wife, son, stepson, five brothers, and two granddaughters.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-NJ-AAB7C856- 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.
Captain Gawron gave the Sayreville Police Department 30 years.
Thank you for your service to the Sayreville community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Captain Gawron.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Captain William J. Gawron, Sr. 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%.
National Cause Distribution
How Illness compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. William J. Gawron, Sr.'s cause is highlighted.
How William J. Gawron, Sr. Compares
Offender Outcome
19 suicide attackers
When Illness Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Illness deaths across the full memorial record. William J. Gawron, Sr. is highlighted in May.