Roll of Honor
Incident
Police Officer Vasco Snow died as a result of complications of Spanish Influenza during an outbreak inside the 19th Police District located at the intersection of 12th Street and Pine Street.
Between October 4th and 5th, 1918, more than 20 officers attached to the Police District failed to report to duty after falling ill with Influenza. Officer Snow had recently been transferred to the 19th Police District on September 27th, 1918, from the 17th Police District.
Due to the devastation of the Spanish Influenza pandemic, 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 of homes, assist doctors and health officers, and make sure establishments were closed and following guidelines to stop the spread of the flu.
Police Officer Snow served with the Philadelphia Police Department for only eight months and was survived by his parents and seven siblings. Officer Snow's twin brother Police Officer Conklin Snow, also attached to the same district, died as a result of complications of Spanish Influenza on October 23rd, 1918, due to the outbreak. Both brothers' bodies were shipped to Altavista, Virginia, for burial.
The 1918 Influenza Pandemic
Police Officer Vasco Snow died on October 9, 1918 of influenza contracted in the line of duty. He was 37.
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
Police Officer Snow served with the Philadelphia Police Department for only eight months and was survived by his parents and seven siblings.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-PA-C238518F- 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.
Are you family? This record can be claimed and maintained by those who knew Vasco. Claim this record.
This page is permanent and free. No fee to view it, no advertising, no tracking, and no account required. It will not be taken down.
Tributes
No vaccine, no antibiotics, and you stood the post anyway.
Police Officer Snow served with the Philadelphia Police Department.
Thank you for your service to the Philadelphia community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Police Officer Snow.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Police Officer Vasco Snow 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. Vasco Snow's cause is highlighted.
How Vasco Snow Compares
When Illness Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Illness deaths across the full memorial record. Vasco Snow 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.
