By Steve Neavling
Ticklethewire.com
An FBI agent who died of brain cancer after she was exposed to contaminants while working at the Pentagon crash site in the immediate aftermath of the 9/11 terrorist attacks was laid to rest in a moving ceremony this week.
Special Agent Melissa Morrow, 48, who served in the Washington Field Office’s Evidence Response Team on 9/11, was one of the first responders after a passenger jet crashed into the building. Doctors confirmed she was exposed to dangerous toxins while spending 10 weeks collecting evidence at the site.
“She fought this terrible illness with every fiber of her being,” FBI Director Christopher Wray said during the memorial service in Kansas City Tuesday. “Melissa said that when she finally came to terms with the horrible reality of it all, she had a decision to make, and that decision was to fight it with every ounce of courage and strength she could muster.”
Morrow worked in the FBI’s Washington Field Office before joining the bureau’s Kansas City field office.
“She was filled with pride to be keeping her hometown crowd safe from harm,” Wray said. “It meant the world to her, and that kind of work ethic –- that kind of investment in the work you’re doing –- exemplified the bureau at its best, and is all too rare in today’s world.”
Because she was certified by the World Trade Center Health Program and the 9/11 Victim Compensation Fund, her death was classified as a Line of Duty Death.
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