By Joe Dwinell
Boston Herald
BOSTON 鈥� The 9/11 attacks keep destroying lives even today.
Cancer linked to the toxic emissions at , the and 鈥渟icken 1,000 people a month,鈥� said attorney Dan Hansen, who has clients from New England to New Jersey.
Retired FBI agent Tom O鈥機onnor said he just buried a former colleague who died too young after getting ill from sifting through evidence from the terror attacks 22 years ago.
Loved ones of the nearly 3,000 9/11 victims are in court over the Kingdom鈥檚 alleged involvement in bankrolling some of the 19 hijackers who pulled off the nightmare that never ends.
And, the of five terrorists linked to planning the attacks drag on in Guant谩namo Bay, Cuba, where pleas deals are being pitched.
鈥淚t鈥檚 literally like (Osama) bin Laden is reaching up from the grave and pulling people down,鈥� said O鈥機onnor, a former Northampton police officer who is now head of charities for the . He said the FBI has lost 17 agents to 9/11 cancers along with four support staff with hundreds of others sick.
鈥淚t鈥檚 all from the jet fuel, the planes burning and the Shanksville site where Flight 93 crashed into a Superfund site,鈥� O鈥機onnor said of the illnesses hitting agents. 鈥淓very single day we鈥檙e talking to someone who is sick.鈥�
That hallowed Shanksville, Pa., field where Flight 93 crashed was once a mine that was capped under the . The Flight 93 passengers and crew ended the terror attacks with their rallying cry of 鈥�鈥�
But people are still dying.
鈥淲e can never forget. Cancer is not allowing us to forget,鈥� said He said police, firefighters, EMTs, Salvation Army volunteers and so many others who raced to Ground Zero after the Sept. 11, 2001, attack to help are facing chemotherapy instead of retirement.
鈥淭oday is an open wound that鈥檚 continuing,鈥� he said, 鈥渁nd it鈥檚 now spreading to people who have relocated all over the country.鈥�
The has 85,475 claims as of Aug. 31 with $12 billion awarded to date to help first responders or family members. Also, more than 160,000 people have registered with the fund. That鈥檚 tens of thousands worried they could be next to receive a devastating cancer diagnosis.
Hansen said the average age of responders on 9/11 was 39 years old. They are now about to hit their 60s when their days should be filled with grandchildren and retirement plans. 鈥淭hey know the trajectory,鈥� he said of cancer.
Retired Navy Cmdr. Kirk Lippold, the former commander of the USS Cole when the ship was attacked by terrorists on Oct. 12, 2000, in the Port of Aden in Yemen killing 17 sailors, said 9/11 鈥渋s technically never going to be over.鈥�
He鈥檚 a lecturer, and terrorism expert who told the Herald 鈥渨e haven鈥檛 seen justice yet.鈥�
He鈥檚 calling for the Biden administration to 鈥済et a conviction鈥� against the five Gitmo detainees 鈥� including 9/11 mastermind Khalid Sheikh Mohammed. Not doing so, he said, is 鈥渁moral and unethical.鈥� He wants justice for USS Cole families, too.
Brett Eagleson, who was 15 years old when his dad, Bruce, died while working at the Twin Towers on 9/11, wants President Biden to force Saudi Arabia to apologize for its involvement in the terror attacks.
Biden is not expected to attend any of the 9/11 remembrances in NYC, D.C., or Pennsylvania today in what Eagleson said is another setback for 9/11 kin.
鈥淲e still don鈥檛 have justice.鈥�
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