Roll of Honor
Incident
Lieutenant James Cox contracted influenza during the commission of his job duties while assigned to the ambulance unit. He was transported to the hospital where he died a week later due to pneumonia and influenza on December 27, 1918.
Lieutenant Cox served with the Cambridge Police Department for 22 years.
The 1918 Influenza Pandemic
Lieutenant James Andrew Cox died on December 27, 1918 of influenza contracted in the line of duty. He was 47.
He is one of 201 officers honored here, and one of 2 at Cambridge 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 sister.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-MA-6F614EF3- 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.
Lieutenant Cox gave the Cambridge Police Department 22 years.
Thank you for your service to the Cambridge community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Lieutenant Cox.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Lieutenant James Andrew Cox 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 Cambridge Police Department, 4 of 12 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. James Andrew Cox's cause is highlighted.
How James Andrew Cox Compares
When Illness Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Illness deaths across the full memorial record. James Andrew Cox is highlighted in Dec.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
11 officers from Cambridge Police Department are honored on badge.nw.
