Roll of Honor

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Corporal

Henry McCoy Townes Jr.

Virginia Department of Corrections — Richmond, VA

Veteran → Accident

End of Watch January 6, 1981

Age 35

Tour of Duty 8 yrs

The Vigil Panel 123 ›

Gender Male

Incident Service The Sacrifice Military Department 15

Incident

Corporal Henry Townes was killed in a vehicle crash at the intersection of Second Street and Byrd Street in Richmond, Virginia.

He had taken the van to get mechanical work done on it and was returning it to the Virginia State Penitentiary at about 11:55 am when it was struck by another car that ran a red light just outside of the penitentiary walls. Corporal Townes was ejected from the vehicle and suffered severe head injuries. He was transported to the Medical College of Virginia Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries.

Corporal Townes was a U.S. Army veteran of the Vietnam War and had served with the Virginia Department of Corrections for eight years.

Survivors

He was survived by his two daughters, parents, and brother.

In Our Keeping

Permanent identifier: BO-US-VA-C83D4668
Stewardship: Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
Added to badge.nw: August 2, 2026
Last updated: August 2, 2026

Honored here by 1 tribute.

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Also honored at salute.nw — U.S. Army. One record, 2 gates. Henry is one person.

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Tributes

I served 1985 to 1993. You served too, before the badge - different uniform, same idea. You go where you are sent and you do not get to pick the call.
Corporal Townes gave the Virginia Department of Corrections 8 years.
Thank you for your service to the people of Virginia. Thank you for your service before it. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, brother.

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

Agency

Department Virginia Department of Corrections

Type Corrections

Location Richmond, VA

Platform Identity vdcorr.richmond.va.us.gov.nw

Service Record

End of Watch January 6, 1981

Tour of Duty 8 yrs

Age 35

Gender Male

Incident Details

Cause Accident

Military Service

Henry McCoy Townes Jr. served in the U.S. Army before joining law enforcement.

View full service record on salute.nw →

Corporal Henry McCoy Townes Jr. is one of 1 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 0% of all 97,759 officers honored here.

In VA, 204 of 655 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 31.1% of this state's fallen. That is 31.1 percentage points above the national rate of 0%.

At Virginia Department of Corrections, 5 of 16 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 31.3% of this agency's fallen.

Virginia Department of Corrections

of 16 officers

31.3% Accident

VA — Statewide

204

of 655 officers

31.1% Accident

Nationwide

of 97,759 officers

0% Accident