Fallen heroes on wall
THE NYPD IS making good on its promise to never forget its cops who have died in the line of duty — no matter how many decades have passed.
Eighteen officers, some of whom made the ultimate sacrifice more than a century ago, were honored Wednesday as their names were added to the Hall of Heroes at NYPD Headquarters.
“It does not matter what year it was when they made their sacrifice, it is timeless,” Mayor de Blasio said before the brass plates with the fallen officers’ names were unveiled. “It doesn't matter if it took place a year ago or 100 years ago, it must be remembered and we must take it as inspiration.”
Those honored included Patrolman John Branagan of the 43rd Precinct in the Bronx, who died on Aug. 10, 1869, after horses pulling a lumber truck bucked, causing the wood to spill on top of him.
Patrolman William Galbraith of the Mounted Unit died on Nov. 8, 1911, when he fell from his horse, and Patrolman Gustave Boettger, another mounted cop, died in 1922 — a dozen years after he was dragged by a horse-drawn wagon along Fulton St. in Brooklyn, cops said.
The only officer on the list of honorees to die this century was New York City Transit Police Officer William Martin, who succumbed in 2011 to injuries he suffered in a fight with a homeless man in Manhattan 30 years earlier.
Detective George Caccavale, who died on June 26, 1976, was also honored. He took police action while off duty at a check-cashing store in Long Island City, cops said.
“Today we ensure their sacrifices were never lost to time,” NYPD Commissioner James O’Neill said. “For decades, for some more than a century, their names were not on these walls. That wasn’t right. Today, that changes.”
Police said many of the cops being honored died months or years after their injuries and fell through the cracks each time the NYPD added to its Memorial Wall.
The ceremony is held annually in May, but a special ceremony was held Wednesday to honor the newly unearthed heroes from the past.