Roll of Honor
Incident
Sergeant Ernest Thornhill died as a result of contracting the Spanish Influenza while assisting victims getting to the hospital.
He was taken to the City Hospital where he died as a result of complications four days after developing symptoms.
Sergeant Thornhill's wife and infant daughter died the next day due to complications of Spanish Influenza and childbirth.
Sergeant Thornhill served with the Louisville Police Department for eight months.
The 1918 Influenza Pandemic
Sergeant Ernest H. Thornhill died on November 30, 1918 of influenza contracted in the line of duty. He was 30.
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 two sons, both under the age of three.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-KY-904405B1- 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.
Sergeant Thornhill served with the Louisville Police Department.
Thank you for your service to the Louisville community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Sergeant Thornhill.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Sergeant Ernest H. Thornhill 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 KY, 21 of 983 officers were lost to illness connected to their service — 2.1% of this state's fallen. That is 7 percentage points below the national rate of 9.1%.
At Louisville Police Department, 3 of 91 officers on record were lost to illness connected to their service — 3.3% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Illness compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Ernest H. Thornhill's cause is highlighted.
How Ernest H. Thornhill Compares
When Illness Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Illness deaths across the full memorial record. Ernest H. Thornhill is highlighted in Nov.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
90 officers from Louisville Police Department are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
