Roll of Honor
Incident
Deputy Sheriff Charles Davidson was killed after falling beneath a moving freight train in Brandenville while fleeing from a striking miners who were attempting to attack him and three other deputies.
The deputies had gone to the area to escort a strike breaker to the Latrobe & Connellsville Coal Company stockade. When the striking miners saw the group they began chasing them. Deputy Davidson attempted to board a moving train at the train station in an attempt to flee from the mob, but he slipped and fell underneath the wheels.
Two weeks prior to Deputy Davidon's death, Deputy Sheriff George Ridgeway was murdered by striking miners while assigned to guard a non-union miner's belongings.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-PA-7CDD7D79- 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 never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Deputy Sheriff Davidson served with the Westmoreland County Sheriff's Office.
Thank you for your service to the Greensburg community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Deputy Sheriff Davidson.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Deputy Sheriff Charles Davidson 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 PA, 417 of 1,261 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 33.1% of this state's fallen. That is 2.1 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.
At Westmoreland County Sheriff's Office, 1 of 3 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 33.3% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Charles Davidson's cause is highlighted.
How Charles Davidson Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Charles Davidson is highlighted in Dec.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
2 officers from Westmoreland County Sheriff's Office are honored on badge.nw.
