Roll of Honor
Incident
Officer William Smith was struck and killed by a Northern Pacific Railroad freight train while standing on a crossing. He was watching two southbound trains when he was struck by a train that was backing up on the track he was on.
Officer Smith was survived by his wife and daughter.
Survivors
Officer Smith was survived by his wife and daughter.
In Our Keeping
- Permanent identifier
BO-US-WA-61847C8F- Stewardship
- Maintained by NeuraWeb Global Inc.
- Added to badge.nw
- August 2, 2026
- Last updated
- August 2, 2026
Honored here by 1 sentinel - 1 tribute.
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Tributes
I never knew you. I am standing here anyway.
Officer Smith served with the Centralia Police Department.
Thank you for your service to the Centralia community. Gone but never to be forgotten.
Rest easy, Officer Smith.
— S. Vincent Anthony, U.S. Army 1985-1993
Agency
Service Record
Incident Details
Officer William H. Smith is one of 10,094 officers lost to accidents in the line of duty across the full record of this memorial — 31% of all 32,586 officers honored here.
In WA, 111 of 340 officers were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 32.6% of this state's fallen. That is 1.6 percentage points above the national rate of 31%.
At Centralia Police Department, 1 of 2 officers on record were lost to accidents in the line of duty — 50% of this agency's fallen.
National Cause Distribution
How Accident compares to all causes of officer death in the memorial record. William H. Smith's cause is highlighted.
How William H. Smith Compares
When Accident Deaths Occur
Monthly distribution of Accident deaths across the full memorial record. William H. Smith is highlighted in Dec.
Others Who Wore This Badge
1 officer from Centralia Police Department are honored on badge.nw.
