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Albert C. Wedge
Agency patch
Sergeant

Albert C. Wedge

Los Angeles Police Department — Los Angeles, CA
The 1918 Influenza Pandemic → Illness
United States flag California flag
End of Watch February 5, 1919
Age 39
The Vigil Panel 83 · Column 1 · Line 1 ›
Gender Male
Incident Media Service The Sacrifice Memorials 1 Also Remembered Department 239

Incident

Sergeant Albert Wedge died as a result of complications from influenza while performing his assigned duties during the Influenza Pandemic.

Effects of the 1918-1919 Influenza Pandemic on Law Enforcement

Also known as "Spanish Flu" or "LaGrippe," the Influenza Pandemic of 1918 to early 1919 infected an estimated 500 million people worldwide—about one-third of the planet’s population—and killed approximately 675,000 Americans. The effect of the influenza epidemic in the United States was so dire that the average life span in the U.S. fell by twelve years. The four waves of the flu began in March 1918 and ended in April 1919. Many officers contracted this virus due to the requirements of their job.

The names of every officer who died in the line of duty from the Influenza Pandemic will likely never be known. Still, ODMP researchers continue to uncover new cases as part of our mission never to forget the fallen.

Please click here to view ODMP's Influenza Memorial, listing all known fallen officers from the pandemic.

The 1918 Influenza Pandemic

Sergeant Albert C. Wedge died on February 5, 1919 of influenza contracted in the line of duty. He was 39.

He is one of 201 officers honored here, and one of 10 at Los Angeles Police Department.

The influenza pandemic of 1918 killed more people worldwide than the war that preceded it. Police officers worked it without vaccines, without antibiotics, and often without masks, enforcing quarantines, transporting the sick, and standing posts in cities where the dead outpaced the undertakers.

They caught it doing the job. There was no treatment to give them.

In Our Keeping

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August 2, 2026
Last updated
September 9, 2026

Honored here by 1 tribute.

Are you family? This record can be claimed and maintained by those who knew Albert. Claim this record.

Also honored at requiem.nw. One record, 2 gates. Albert is one person.

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Tributes

No vaccine, no antibiotics, and you stood the post anyway.
Sergeant Wedge served with the Los Angeles Police Department.
Thank you for your service to the Los Angeles community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Sergeant Wedge.

— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993

Agency

Department Los Angeles Police Department
Type Police Department
Location Los Angeles, Los Angeles County, CA
Platform Identity lapd.losangeles.ca.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch February 5, 1919
Age 39
Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Illness
Cause Detail Influenza Pandemic

The Sacrifice · Illness

Albert is one of 2,028 officers lost to illness in the United States, 7.4% of the 27,552 remembered there.

34,103 officers are remembered on this memorial. Each number below is one of them.

  3. See the roll
  4. See the roll
Compare against
I

Time

In 1919, 32 officers in the United States were lost to illness, the 11th heaviest of 108 years on record. The heaviest was 2021, with 564.

Every year on record · United States
II

Who

Albert was 39. Of the 1,996 lost to illness in the United States whose age is recorded, half were between 42 and 58; the middle age was 51.

Age at death
Where he stood among them
Age by years of service
III

When

February holds 6.1% of these deaths in the United States; October holds the most, 14.9%. Wednesdays: 14%.

By month
By day of the week
IV

How

Illness deaths account for 7.4% of all 27,552 deaths in the United States, the 3rd most common cause.

Every cause
Weapons recorded
V

His people

Los Angeles Police Department has at least 120 officers remembered here, Albert among them.

Across the years
VI

Where

Sergeant Albert C. Wedge

Los Angeles Police Department · End of Watch February 5, 1919

Where the Name Is Cut

National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial · Panel 20-WT

Also Remembered

National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial — requiem.nw →

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