Roll of Honor
John Henry Sellenthin
Incident
Customs Agent John Sellenthin died after suffering second and third degree burns at the United States Customs House at 201 Varrak Street in Manhattan, New York, on August 30th, 1961. He was in the process of burning films that had been seized by the Customs Service when a fire started. He was taken to St. Vincent's Hospital where he died on September 2nd, 1961. Agent Sellenthin was a U.S. Army veteran of WWII.
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- Permanent identifier
BO-US-FED-4BF5B334- 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
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.
Customs Agent Sellenthin served with the United States Department of the Treasury.
Thank you for your service. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, brother.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Military Service
John Henry Sellenthin served in the United States military before joining law enforcement. Full service record available on salute.nw.
Customs Agent John Henry Sellenthin 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 DC, 454 of 1,419 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 32% of this state's fallen. That is 1 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.
At United States Department of the Treasury - United States Customs Service, 44 of 94 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 46.8% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. John Henry Sellenthin's cause is highlighted.
How John Henry Sellenthin Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. John Henry Sellenthin is highlighted in Sep.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
93 officers from United States Department of the Treasury - United States Customs Service are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
