Sponsor a NY/NJ Port Authority Police Officer


On September 11, 2001, the NY/NJ Port Authority Police Department (PAPD) lost 37 officers and one police dog, Sirius,, at the World Trade Center (WTC). No other police department in the history of our nation has lost that many officers in a single incident. In fact, from the day of its inception on June 1, 1928 to September 10, 2001, the PAPD had lost a total of only seven officers in the line of duty...seven officers over a period of 78 years!

The purpose of this project is to let the PAPD officers know they have not been forgotten. Visions of the carnage they witnessed on September 11, 2001 and sifted through in the days, weeks and months that followed will never leave them. Some officers have since chosen to retire while others remain on the force. They all struggle each and every day with what they experienced.

During the aftermath of the attack, the PAPD provided me with escorts and access into Ground Zero at times when even the mainstream media was not allowed in. In return, I sent one copy of my book, “The Thousand-Mile Stare: Images from Ground Zero,” to each of the PAPD officers whose image appears in the book. I have since been asked to send more copies if possible. After some consideration, I decided to send 150 special edition copies: one for each of the 110 PAPD officers who rotated through on the 24/7 shift, searching through the WTC rubble for human remains and personal property for eight months and 19 days; one to each of the families of the 37 PAPD officers killed at the WTC; and one to each PAPD officer injured at the WTC.

My publisher paid to have the 150 special edition books produced with money out of his own pocket. I am now looking for individuals, companies, corporations, etc., to step up and sponsor one or more officers by donating the cost of one or more books. The following summary provides information on how to become a sponsor.

    1. Donate $35 for each officer you wish to sponsor. All donations go to the Spotted Horse Press to cover the cost of producing each book. NOTE:NO ONE IS MAKING A PROFIT FROM THE EFFORT!

    2. Each $35 gets you access to one special edition book, which you will take home or to work or to the gym or to wherever you hang out and get friends, family, co-workers, strangers, etc., to sign with personalized messages of support to the PAPD.

    3. Once you are done collecting signatures, contact me or my publisher and we will make arrangements to get the book(s) back.



NOW....for those of you who live outside the Denver Metro Area, here are your options:

    1. You can mail your donation to the Spotted Horse Press and designate a group you wish to sign your book (ie., students, retirees, members of VFW Halls, patients of Children's Hospital, etc.)

    2. You can mail your donation to the Spotted Horse Press and leave it up to me to find signers for your book.

    3. You can send your donation plus shipping to the Spotted Horse Press and we will send your book(s)to you. As soon as you are through getting signatures, send the book(s) back to the Spotted Horse Press so we can deliver all 150 books to the PAPD at the same time.


This project is more than worthy of a $35.00 donation. Most of us can get through a day, a week, a month (perhaps?) without thinking about the horror of the September 11, 2001 attack. Those who were assigned the grueling task of cleaning up Ground Zero are not that fortunate. Please help me help them by letting them know that the courage, determination and resilience they displayed on 9-11 and in the days, weeks, months and years that followed has not gone unnoticed nor unappreciated.

Thank you for your support,

Nanette Martin


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