Roll of Honor
Incident
Detective Carl Whitely died as a result of complications from influenza while performing his assigned duties during the Influenza Pandemic.
The Chattanooga Police Department had been tasked with enforcing local health laws to help prevent the spread of influenza, as well as performing their regular police duties.
Detective Whitely served with the Chattanooga Police Department for five years.
The 1918 Influenza Pandemic
Detective Carl Whitely died on October 10, 1918 of influenza contracted in the line of duty. He was 34.
He is one of 201 officers honored here.
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.
Survivors
He was survived by his wife, mother, and two brothers.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-TN-85056FD6- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- April 2, 2026
- Last updated
- July 23, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
No vaccine, no antibiotics, and you stood the post anyway.
Detective Whitely gave the Chattanooga Police Department 5 years.
Thank you for your service to the Chattanooga community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Detective Whitely.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Detective Carl Whitely is one of 2,974 officers lost to illness connected to their service across the full record of this memorial — 9.1% of all 32,508 officers honored here.
In TN, 43 of 769 officers were lost to illness connected to their service — 5.6% of this state's fallen. That is 3.5 percentage points below the national rate of 9.1%.
At Chattanooga Police Department, 2 of 27 officers on record were lost to illness connected to their service — 7.4% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Illness compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Carl Whitely's cause is highlighted.
How Carl Whitely Compares
When Illness Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Illness deaths across the full memorial record. Carl Whitely is highlighted in Oct.
Others Who Wore This Badge
26 officers from Chattanooga Police Department are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
