Roll of Honor
Incident
Officer John Conrad died as a result of complications from influenza while performing his assigned duties during the Influenza Pandemic.
In October 1918, the Metropolitan Police Department suffered an outbreak of influenza inside the Police Department due to the department's response to the Influenza Pandemic. Police Officers worked extremely long hours, answered emergency calls, and assisted influenza patients due to being short-staffed. More than 100 officers of the department were off daily throughout October. The United States Army Military Police Officers were ordered to help strengthen the number of the Police Force. They assisted the police department with policing in the city for most of the month till the Police Department got back to full strength.
Officer John Conrad served with the Metropolitan Police Department for 13 years.
The 1918 Influenza Pandemic
Officer John Wesley Conrad died on October 19, 1918 of influenza contracted in the line of duty. He was 45.
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 and two children.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-DC-EB158D38- 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.
Officer Conrad gave the Metropolitan Police Department 13 years.
Thank you for your service to the Washington community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Officer Conrad.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Officer John Wesley Conrad 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 DC, 137 of 1,419 officers were lost to illness connected to their service — 9.7% of this state's fallen. That is 0.6 percentage points above the national rate of 9.1%.
At Metropolitan Police Department, 8 of 131 officers on record were lost to illness connected to their service — 6.1% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Illness compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. John Wesley Conrad's cause is highlighted.
How John Wesley Conrad Compares
When Illness Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Illness deaths across the full memorial record. John Wesley Conrad is highlighted in Oct.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
130 officers from Metropolitan Police Department are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
