National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial

Officer Rank: Private

Memorial Panel: 25-E: 30

Department: Texas Rangers, Texas

End of Watch: October 15, 1918

Cause: PHYS

Age: 33

Years of Service: 1

Description: On October 7, 1918, Privates Hunt and Ben Pennington were sent to El Paso to maintain order during the Spanish Influenza of 1918. Ben Pennington and Robert Hunt were called in from border duty, along with other Rangers, to help enforce the quarantine in El Paso. Their orders were to make sure that the soldiers at Fort Bliss stayed on the military reservation. Private Hunt died of pneumonia due to influenza on eight days later on October 15th. Private Pennington died of the same circumstances on October 12th.