Roll of Honor

Prev Next

Deputy Commissioner

Claude Everett Swackhammer

Alaska Department of Public Safety — Anchorage, AK

Accident

End of Watch October 11, 1994

Age 51

Tour of Duty 27 yrs

The Vigil Panel 140 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice

Incident

Deputy Commissioner Swack Swackhammer and Sergeant Robert Lee Bittick, of the Alaska State Troopers, were killed in an airplane accident in British Columbia, Canada, just north of Haines, Alaska. Sergeant Bittick was piloting the department's Grumman Goose seaplane from Anchorage to Juneau when it crashed into a mountainside during a snowstorm. Deputy Commissioner Swackhammer had served with the Alaska State Troopers for 25 years and had been appointed by the governor to the Alaska Department of Public Safety.

Survivors

He is survived by his wife, two sons, and daughter.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-AK-A6EBD625
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.

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

This page is permanent and free. No fee to view it, no advertising, no tracking, and no account required. It will not be taken down.

Tributes

27 years. You could have gone home.
Deputy Commissioner Swackhammer gave the Alaska Department of Public Safety 27 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the people of Alaska. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Deputy Commissioner Swackhammer.

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

Agency

Department Alaska Department of Public Safety

Location Anchorage, AK

Platform Identity adps.ak.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch October 11, 1994

Tour of Duty 27 yrs

Age 51

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident

Deputy Commissioner Claude Everett Swackhammer is one of 10,088 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,508 officers honored here.

In AK, 14 of 50 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 28% of this state's fallen. That is 3 percentage points below the national rate of 31%.

Alaska Department of Public Safety

of 1 officers

100% Accident

AK — Statewide

of 50 officers

28% Accident

Nationwide

10,088

of 32,508 officers

31% Accident

National Cause Distribution

How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Claude Everett Swackhammer's cause is highlighted.

Felonious

17,623 (54.2%)

Accident

10,088 (31%)

Illness

2,974 (9.1%)

Cardiac

1,306 (4%)

Undetermined

260 (0.8%)

Suicide

256 (0.8%)

vehicular

1 (0%)

How Claude Everett Swackhammer Compares

Age at End of Watch

This officer

Avg for Accident: 38.1 years

Years of Service