Roll of Honor
Incident
Patrolman Jeremiah McDonald died as a result of complications of Spanish Influenza contracted while assigned to enforcing health laws in the city of Fall River.
After completing his shift, Patrolman McDonald arrived home complaining of not feeling well. He was confined to his home as his health deteriorated, and he died from the flu a week later.
The city of Fall River's first reported case of Influenza was on September 16th, 1918. By the end of the year over 11,707 cases were reported, with 719 deaths. Many members of the Fall River Police Department became ill while enforcing the city health laws. Patrolman McDonald and two other members of the Police Department died as a result of contracting Spanish Influenza.
Patrolman McDonald had served with the Fall River Police Department for 15 years.
The 1918 Influenza Pandemic
Patrolman Jeremiah Joseph McDonald died on September 27, 1918 of influenza contracted in the line of duty. He was 40.
He is one of 201 officers honored here, and one of 2 at Fall River Police Department.
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 four children.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-MA-6C5A3F50- 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 McDonald gave the Fall River Police Department 15 years.
Thank you for your service to the Fall River community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Patrolman McDonald.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Patrolman Jeremiah Joseph McDonald 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 MA, 59 of 469 officers were lost to illness connected to their service — 12.6% of this state's fallen. That is 3.5 percentage points above the national rate of 9.1%.
At Fall River Police Department, 3 of 9 officers on record were lost to illness connected to their service — 33.3% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Illness compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Jeremiah Joseph McDonald's cause is highlighted.
How Jeremiah Joseph McDonald Compares
When Illness Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Illness deaths across the full memorial record. Jeremiah Joseph McDonald is highlighted in Sep.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
8 officers from Fall River Police Department are honored on badge.nw.
