Newark's Blue Mass Thursday to Honor 11 NJ Officers, Including Middletown Trooper Who Died of 9/11-Related Cancer

After the Sept. 11 attacks, Lt. Peter Bruncati was assigned to search-and-recovery work at the World Trade Center site, according to his obituary. He later developed a cancer linked to the ash and dust there, and he died in 2023 at 66. On Thursday, the retired state trooper from Middletown will be remembered in Newark.

Bruncati is one of 11 officers the Archdiocese of Newark will honor at its 33rd annual Blue Mass, set for 10 a.m. Thursday, Nov. 12, at the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart. The archdiocese said officers of all faiths from federal, state, county and municipal agencies will attend alongside families of the fallen, community members and public officials. Police honor guards, bagpipers and drummers will take part, and NJ Transit Police Chief Christopher Trucillo is serving as honorary chairman.

This year's Mass carries extra weight. It also marks the 25th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks, and four of the 11 officers being remembered died of illnesses tied to their response at the World Trade Center, the archdiocese said. A quarter-century on, New Jersey is still counting what that day cost its first responders.

Bruncati grew up in Hazlet and settled in Middletown in 1994, where he and his wife raised a son and a daughter, his obituary says. He served with the State Police until he retired in 2010 and always said becoming a trooper was "the best decision of his life." Retired State Police Sgt. 1st Class William A. Casey of Farmingdale, who also died of a 9/11-related cancer, will be honored too. Like Bruncati, he grew up in Hazlet.

The full list of officers being remembered, according to the archdiocese: Lt. Peter Bruncati, Sgt. 1st Class William A. Casey, Sgt. 1st Class Steven Tiboni and Sgt. Lee E. Hendrickson of the New Jersey State Police; Detective John Patrick of the Springfield Police Department; Detective Fritz Magny of the Newark Police Department; Officer Robert Banas of U.S. Customs and Border Protection; Lt. Thomas "T.J." Malanka and Officer Matthew Kirvin of the Secaucus Police Department; Officer Johnny Mack of the Jersey City Police Department; and Officer Joseph Giordano of the Bayonne Police Department.

The service is Thursday morning at the cathedral on Ridge Street, across from Branch Brook Park. The archdiocese's announcement does not mention a livestream, so anyone who wants to pay respects should plan to be there in person.

Source: Archdiocese of Newark.

Photo: Jim.henderson / Wikimedia Commons (public domain, CC0)