Salman Hamdani
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Muslim Cop Cadet Mourned
By Austin Fenner Daily News Staff Writer, Saturday, April 06, 2002
The story of a Pakistani-born Muslim man living in Queens who was unexpectedly missing after Sept. 11 quickly took on sinister implications.
But Mohammed Salman Hamdani was not in secret government custody and had not fled the country — the 23-year-old police cadet had apparently raced to help at the World Trade Center.
A mourner grieves at the funeral for police cadet Mohammed Salman Hamdani, who perished in the Sept. 11th attacks. Hamdani's remains were recently identified, and yesterday he was memorialized by Mayor Bloomberg, Police Commissioner Ray Kelly and 500 others as another city hero.
"We don't know how many people he helped, how many lives he saved," Kelly told mourners at the Islamic Cultural Center on E. 96th St. "But if you look at his life, you know he was determined to make a difference — and he did. He was indeed a hero."
The part-time ambulance driver, who also worked at Rockefeller University, loved to help people, said his 20-year-old brother, Mohammed Adnaan Hamdani.
"My brother was the person who pretended to lose 20 bucks by dropping it in front of a homeless man," he said.
Hamdani's body, as well as his medical bag with his ID, was recovered at Ground Zero in October, but it wasn't officially identified until recently through DNA tests.
Hamdani was a huge "Star Wars" fan — so hardcore that his license plate read "YUNGJEDI."
"My young Jedi, you gave your life for the children of ignorance," said his mother, Talat Hamdani. "He gave his life for America. Now America is honoring him."