It’s Hard To Forget When In Some Ways It’s Still Happening

The problem with rushing to build so many unsatisfyingly small (in their scope and artistic vision) 9/11 memorials is that brave people worthy of our memory are still dying from the attacks:

An autopsy of a retired NYPD detective confirmed yesterday what his family and fellow cops long suspected — that James Zadroga’s death was “directly related” to the Ground Zero cleanup.
The stunning findings are believed to mark the first time the death of a cleanup worker has been officially tied to the aftermath of the terror attacks.

“It is felt with a reasonable degree of medical certainty that the cause of death in this case was directly related to the 9/11 incident,” Dr. Gerard Breton, a pathologist at the Ocean County, N.J., medical examiner’s office wrote in the Feb. 28 autopsy report.

Zadroga died on Jan. 5 of pulmonary disease and respiratory failure — and he had lung-tissue inflammation Breton attributed to “a history of exposure to toxic fumes and dust.”