Roll of Honor
Incident
Patrolman Ralph McCracken was killed in a motorcycle accident in Fairfield County while en route to Yorktown, Virginia, to represent the South Carolina Highway Patrol at the Yorktown Sesquicentennial Celebration.
He was riding with another patrolman to Chester, South Carolina, to meetup with a squad of 12 who were being sent to the celebration when his motorcycle collided with a mail truck. Patrolman McCracken was thrown from the motorcycle and suffered fatal injuries.
Patrolman McCracken had served with the South Carolina Highway Patrol for 15 months.
Survivors
He was survived by his wife and two daughters.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-SC-50F9248D- 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
You barely got started.
Patrolman McCracken gave the South Carolina Highway Patrol 1 year.
Thank you for your service to the people of South Carolina. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Patrolman McCracken.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Patrolman Ralph W. McCracken 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 SC, 137 of 438 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 31.3% of this state's fallen. That is 0.3 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.
At South Carolina Highway Patrol, 31 of 52 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 59.6% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. Ralph W. McCracken's cause is highlighted.
How Ralph W. McCracken Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. Ralph W. McCracken is highlighted in Oct.
Others Who Wore This Badge
51 officers from South Carolina Highway Patrol are honored on badge.nw. Showing the 16 most recent.
