Roll of Honor
Berry John Butcher
Incident
Railroad Detective Berry Butcher was killed when a railroad car he was riding on the back of was struck by a second railroad car in the Pennsylvania Railroad yards in Columbus, Ohio.
Detective Butcher had previously served as a sheriff's deputy for 20 years before joining the Pennsylvania Railroad Police Department.
Survivors
He was survived by his wife and son.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-RR-6344360D- 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
20 years. You could have gone home.
Railroad Detective Butcher gave the Pennsylvania Railroad Police Department 20 years. Still answering calls at the end.
Thank you for your service to the Philadelphpia community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Railroad Detective Butcher.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Railroad Detective Berry John Butcher 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 Pennsylvania Railroad Police Department, 22 of 36 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 61.1% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Berry John Butcher's cause is highlighted.
How Berry John Butcher Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Berry John Butcher is highlighted in Jul.
Incident Location
Others Who Wore This Badge
35 officers from Pennsylvania Railroad Police Department are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
