Roll of Honor
Incident
Police Officer George Garland died after contracting the flu while assigned to emergency duty at the emergency hospital, which had been set up in the old armory on Duncan Street, during the Spanish Flu pandemic.
He contracted the flu and pneumonia, and died from the effects of the illness on May 14th, 1917.
Officer Garland was a widower who was survived by his four children, mother, sister, and two brothers.
The 1918 Influenza Pandemic
Police Officer George A. Garland died on May 14, 1919 of influenza contracted in the line of duty. He was 36.
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
Officer Garland was a widower who was survived by his four children, mother, sister, and two brothers.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-MA-75E5D282- 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.
Police Officer Garland served with the Gloucester Police Department.
Thank you for your service to the Gloucester community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Police Officer Garland.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Police Officer George A. Garland 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 MA, 59 of 469 officers were lost to illness connected to their service — 12.6% of this state's fallen. That is 3.5 percentage points above the national rate of 9.1%.
At Gloucester Police Department, 1 of 2 officers on record were lost to illness connected to their service — 50% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Illness compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. George A. Garland's cause is highlighted.
How George A. Garland Compares
When Illness Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Illness deaths across the full memorial record. George A. Garland is highlighted in May.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
1 officer from Gloucester Police Department are honored on badge.nw.
