Roll of Honor
Incident
Patrolman Peter Jost died as a result of complications from influenza while performing his assigned duties during the Influenza Pandemic.
Patrolman Jost became ill at his traffic post in Downtown Portland near the intersection of Fifth Street and Morrison Street. He was taken to Saint Vincent Hospital, where he died due to complications of influenza.
The Portland Police Bureau was tasked with enforcing local health laws to help prevent the spread of influenza, as well as performing their regular police duties.
Patrolman Jost served with the Portland Police Bureau for approximately one year. Patrolman Jost had resigned from the department for a new job in Pendleton, Oregon, a year earlier. He had recently rejoined the Portland Police Bureau three months earlier at the request of the Chief of Police.
The 1918 Influenza Pandemic
Patrolman Peter Walter Jost died on October 22, 1918 of influenza contracted in the line of duty. He was 28.
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.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-OR-2F36C53D- 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.
Patrolman Jost gave the Portland Police Bureau 1 year.
Thank you for your service to the Portland community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Patrolman Jost.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Patrolman Peter Walter Jost 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 OR, 5 of 197 officers were lost to illness connected to their service — 2.5% of this state's fallen. That is 6.6 percentage points below the national rate of 9.1%.
At Portland Police Bureau, 2 of 31 officers on record were lost to illness connected to their service — 6.5% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Illness compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Peter Walter Jost's cause is highlighted.
How Peter Walter Jost Compares
When Illness Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Illness deaths across the full memorial record. Peter Walter Jost is highlighted in Oct.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
30 officers from Portland Police Bureau are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
