Date of Death: March 16, 2008 in the performance of duty resulting from 9/11.
Cause of Death: SSA Robert Roth was one of the first responders at the Pentagon on 9/11. He was one of the first agents to arrive and immediately began assisting injured personnel and securing debris. The environment around the crash scene contained heavy smoke from burning aviation fuel and smoldering debris. He helped recover bodies in the section of the Pentagon that absorbed Flight 77’s jet fuel-powered explosion and supervised ERT teams inside the Pentagon where they were exposed to fragmented human remains, fumes, dust, charred structures, and debris. Roth stayed on the scene for two weeks, working 12-hour days, and spent considerable time in the impact area. In October 2006, Roth was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, and he succumbed to his illness on March 16, 2008. Extensive research by the Centers for Disease Control and the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health established sufficient evidence that Roth’s exposure to the air in and around the Pentagon after the 9/11 attack either precipitated or accelerated his development of multiple myeloma.
Burial Location:
Stonewall Memory Gardens
Manassas, Virginia