THE ULTIMATE SACRIFICE   Patrolman Martin Aloysius Hanahoe Pennsylvania State Highway Patrol Troop "A" 1902-1927

Incident Details

Martin Aloysius Hanahoe was born August 8, 1902, at Pittston, Pennsylvania.

He enlisted with the State Highway Patrol on January 7, 1926, and was assigned to Troop A, Harrisburg. He was 23 years old and 5' 11" tall. On October 16, 1926, while on motorcycle patrol about ½ mile north of Mills Corner near Towanda in Bradford County, Hanahoe attempted to halt a motor vehicle driven by a fugitive suspect.

The fugitive forced Hanahoe off the road against a concrete abutment and into a telephone pole.

He was taken to the Robert Packer Hospital in Sayre, Pennsylvania, where he died of his injuries on February 27, 1927.

Hanahoe was buried in St. John’s Cemetery in Pittston. He was survived by his mother, Mrs. Matthew Hanahoe, of Pittston, three sisters, Gertrude Reddington, Eleanor Hanahoe, and Rosemary Hanahoe, and two brothers, Frank Hanahoe, and Michael Hanahoe. Hanahoe, 24, was the State Highway Patrol’s first fatality in the line of duty. He had completed one year of service at the time of his death.