Roll of Honor
Incident
Police Officer John Gaghan died as a result of influenza while in the performance of his assigned duties during the Influenza Pandemic.
Due to the devastation of the Influenza Epidemic, Philadelphia Police districts were used as makeshift hospitals. Police officers were ordered to fill and deliver prescriptions, act as pallbearers of victims, placard homes, collect bodies of victims out of their homes, assist doctors and health officers, and make sure establishments were closed and following guidelines to stop the spread of the flu.
Police Officer Gaghan served with the Philadelphia Police Department for eight years and was assigned to the 4th Police District.
The 1918 Influenza Pandemic
Police Officer John Aloysius Gaghan died on October 15, 1918 of influenza contracted in the line of duty. He was 35.
He is one of 201 officers honored here, and one of 45 at Philadelphia 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 six children.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-PA-720B7538- 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.
Police Officer Gaghan gave the Philadelphia Police Department 8 years.
Thank you for your service to the Philadelphia community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Police Officer Gaghan.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Police Officer John Aloysius Gaghan 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 PA, 121 of 1,261 officers were lost to illness connected to their service — 9.6% of this state's fallen. That is 0.5 percentage points above the national rate of 9.1%.
At Philadelphia Police Department, 66 of 378 officers on record were lost to illness connected to their service — 17.5% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Illness compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. John Aloysius Gaghan's cause is highlighted.
How John Aloysius Gaghan Compares
When Illness Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Illness deaths across the full memorial record. John Aloysius Gaghan is highlighted in Oct.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
377 officers from Philadelphia Police Department are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
