Kevin Anthony Czartoryski

Detective Kevin Czartoryski died from illnesses he contracted after inhaling toxic materials as he participated in the rescue and recovery efforts at the World Trade Center site following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001.

Detective Czartoryski served with the New York City Police Departmant for 20 years. During his career he was assigned to several commands, including the Organized Crime Control Bureau Narcotics Division and the Hate Crime Task Force. Detective Czartoryski was assigned to a makeshift morgue established at Ground Zero in the aftermath of 9/11 and later to the Office of the Deputy Commissioner of Public Information.

On the morning of September 11th, 2001, seventy-two officers from a total of eight local, state, and federal agencies were killed when terrorist hijackers working for the al Qaeda terrorist network, headed by Osama bin Laden, crashed four hijacked planes into the World Trade Center towers in New York City, the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, and a field near Shanksville, Pennsylvania.

After the impact of the first plane into the World Trade Center's North Tower, putting the safety of others before their own, law enforcement officers along with fire and EMS personnel, rushed to the burning Twin Towers of the World Trade Center to aid the victims and lead them to safety. Due to their quick actions, it is estimated that over 25,000 people were saved.

As the evacuation continued, the South Tower unexpectedly collapsed as a result of the intense fire caused by the impact. The North Tower collapsed a short time later. Seventy-two law enforcement officers, 343 members of the New York City Fire Department, and over 2,800 civilians were killed at the World Trade Center site on 9/11.

A third hijacked plane crashed into a field in rural Pennsylvania when the passengers attempted to re-take control of the plane. One law enforcement officer, who was a passenger on the plane, was killed in that crash.

The fourth hijacked plane was crashed into the Pentagon in Arlington, Virginia, killing almost 200 military and civilian personnel. No law enforcement officers were killed at the Pentagon on 9/11.

The terrorist attacks resulted in the declaration of war against the Taliban regime, the illegal rulers of Afghanistan, and the al Qaeda terrorist network which also was based in Afghanistan.

On September 9th, 2005, all of the public safety officers killed on September 11th, 2001, were posthumously awarded the 9/11 Heroes Medal of Valor by President George W. Bush.

The contamination in the air at the World Trade Center site caused many rescue personnel to become extremely ill and eventually led to the death of several rescue workers.

On May 1st, 2011, members of the United States military conducted a raid on a compound in Abbottabad, Pakistan, and killed Osama bin Laden.

Please click here to visit the memorials of all of the law enforcement officers who have died as a result of the 9/11 Terrorist Attacks.

Kevin A. Czartoryski, the youngest of six children, grew up in Queens and studied at St. John's University. He was appointed to the New York City Police Department on 11 July 1988, was promoted to detective on 31 March 1995 and earned second grade on 21 August 2001. His assignments included Queens Narcotics and the Hate Crimes Task Force. After 9/11 he moved to the Office of the Deputy Commissioner, Public Information, where he served as the police commissioner's liaison to the city's gay community, and he was promoted to first grade on 23 December 2003.

Police Commissioner Kelly and City Council Speaker Christine Quinn praised his work in building trust between the department and the city's LGBT residents. He marched in the Gay Rights Parade as a member of the Gay Officers Action League. He was known for his cheerful nature, his skill as a communicator and his professionalism, and he inspired two of his nieces and nephews to join the department.

Detective Czartoryski developed pulmonary fibrosis and other illnesses, including several cancers, after his rescue and recovery work at the World Trade Center, and these illnesses forced him to retire on 31 December 2008. In his last two years, his sister said, simply breathing was a struggle. He received a lung transplant in May 2010, but the cancer had already spread. He died on 5 December 2010, just days before the federal 9/11 health and compensation bill was passed.