In September 1971, 11 members of the Attica correctional family went to work and never returned home.
They were correction officers, supervisors, industrial employees and account clerks. They held different responsibilities inside Attica Correctional Facility, but each played a role in keeping the institution operating. Beyond the walls, they were husbands, fathers, sons, brothers, veterans, neighbors and friends.
As we observe the 55th anniversary of the Attica uprising, the Correctional Peace Officers Foundation remembers each of them—not simply as names associated with a historic tragedy, but as individuals whose deaths forever changed their families and community.
Four Days That Changed Attica Forever
The uprising began on the morning of September 9, 1971, when more than 1,200 incarcerated individuals took control of part of Attica Correctional Facility. Forty-two correctional officers and civilian employees were taken hostage.
Correction Officer William E. Quinn was severely beaten during the initial takeover. He died from his injuries two days later.
For four days, negotiations continued as the hostages were held in D Yard. On September 13, New York State moved to retake the facility by force. Tear gas was dropped into the yard, followed by an intense barrage of gunfire.
Twenty-nine incarcerated individuals and nine hostages were killed during the retaking. Correction Officer Harrison W. Whalen survived for several weeks before dying from the gunshot injuries he sustained that morning.
Early reports falsely claimed that the hostages had been killed by their captors. Autopsies later established that all 10 hostages fatally wounded during the retaking had been struck by law-enforcement gunfire. In total, 43 people died during the uprising and its aftermath, including 11 correctional employees.
Behind that number were 11 lives and the families who carried their loss forward.
Correction Officer William E. Quinn
Age: 28
End of Watch: September 11, 1971
William “Billy” Quinn had served with the New York State Department of Correctional Services for approximately two years. His father had also worked at Attica for more than two decades.
Before entering corrections, Billy worked at the West Seneca Developmental Center, caring for people with disabilities. His compassion was remembered long after he left. On one occasion, he helped raise money to purchase a wig for a teenage girl with alopecia.
That same concern for others followed him into Attica. Formerly incarcerated individuals remembered that Billy treated them with dignity. One man recalled how Officer Quinn protected him from harm and described him as a “guardian angel.”
On September 9, Billy was filling in for another officer and working near the central area known as “Times Square” when the uprising began. He attempted to secure a gate as incarcerated individuals pushed through it, but he was overtaken and severely assaulted. Several incarcerated individuals later carried him to the administration building on a mattress so he could receive medical treatment.
Billy died two days later. He left behind his wife, two young daughters and a third child who had not yet been born.
His death was the first staff loss of the Attica uprising.
Correction Sergeant Edward T. Cunningham
Age: 52
End of Watch: September 13, 1971
Sergeant Edward Cunningham was a decorated World War II veteran who devoted approximately 22 years to correctional service. He had risen through the ranks and was serving as a sergeant when he was taken hostage.
Edward worked to provide for his wife and eight children—one daughter and seven sons. Four of his sons would eventually follow their father into correctional service.
During the final hours of the standoff, Sergeant Cunningham understood the danger facing the hostages. He was among those who pleaded for more time and urged Governor Nelson Rockefeller to come to Attica.
Sergeant Cunningham was killed during the retaking on September 13. His decades of public service and the correctional legacy carried forward by his children remain part of his story.
Correction Officer John J. D’Arcangelo Jr.
Age: 23
End of Watch: September 13, 1971
John D’Arcangelo Jr. was the youngest of the correctional employees killed during the September 13 retaking.
He had served with the New York State Department of Correctional Services for approximately two years and had transferred to Attica only a few months earlier, in June 1971.
John was married and the father of a young child. At only 23 years old, he was at the beginning of both his correctional career and his life as a husband and father.
He was taken hostage when the facility was overtaken and was fatally shot during the state’s effort to regain control. The future he was building with his young family ended that morning, leaving those who loved him to carry his memory through the decades that followed.
Industrial Training Supervisor Elmer G. Hardie
Age: 57
End of Watch: September 13, 1971
Elmer Hardie served as an Industrial Training Supervisor at Attica. His work represented an essential, though sometimes overlooked, part of the correctional profession.
Industrial supervisors helped oversee work assignments, provide instruction and maintain the daily operation of institutional programs. Elmer was a civilian employee, but he worked within the same difficult environment and accepted many of the same risks as uniformed staff.
He was a husband and the father of eight children.
Elmer was taken hostage on September 9 and killed during the retaking four days later. His death reminds us that a correctional institution depends upon an entire team—and that civilian correctional employees also stand behind the walls in service to public safety.
Senior Account Clerk Herbert W. Jones Jr.
Age: 26
End of Watch: September 13, 1971
Herbert Jones Jr. was a Senior Account Clerk whose work was administrative. He did not supervise or guard incarcerated individuals, but his position brought him inside Attica each day as part of the facility’s professional staff.
Herbert was only 26 years old. He was married and the father of one child.
When the uprising began, his civilian position offered no protection from the violence. He was taken hostage with the uniformed officers and other employees and remained in captivity throughout the four-day standoff.
Herbert was killed during the retaking on September 13. His widow later pursued legal action against the State of New York, becoming part of the families’ long struggle for accountability.
His inclusion on New York’s correctional memorial affirms that his service—and his sacrifice—were no less significant because he did not wear a uniform.
Correction Officer Richard J. Lewis
Age: 42
End of Watch: September 13, 1971
Richard Lewis was a correction officer, husband and father of two children.
Assigned to the demanding work of maintaining safety and security inside a maximum-security institution, Richard was among the staff members overtaken and held hostage when the uprising began.
For four days, his family waited outside the prison with little control over what would happen next. He was killed by gunfire during the September 13 retaking.
Although fewer personal details about Richard have been preserved in widely available historical accounts, the impact of his death is clear. A wife lost her husband, two children lost their father and a correctional team lost one of its own.
His name remains permanently enshrined among New York’s fallen correctional employees.
Industrial Training Supervisor John G. Monteleone
Age: 41
End of Watch: September 13, 1971
John Monteleone was an Industrial Training Supervisor, husband and father of five children.
September 9 was reportedly supposed to be his day off. With Christmas approaching, however, John accepted an additional shift to earn extra money for his family. He walked into Attica that morning and was taken hostage when the facility was overtaken.
His daughter Karen Jellison was 18 years old at the time. She later described how the tragedy shaped her family and how, for years, families felt discouraged from talking openly about what they had endured.
The creation of the Forgotten Victims of Attica finally gave Karen and other surviving family members a place to share their experiences with people who understood their grief.
John’s decision to work an additional shift reflected the everyday devotion of a father providing for his family. That ordinary act of love became part of an extraordinary tragedy.
Correction Officer Carl W. Valone
Age: 44
End of Watch: September 13, 1971
Carl Valone was a United States Army veteran who served as a military police officer during World War II.
After serving his country, he continued a life of public service with the New York State Department of Correctional Services. He had worked in corrections for more than 10 years by the time of the Attica uprising.
Carl was married and the father of four children.
He was taken hostage during the initial takeover and killed by gunfire during the retaking on September 13. His life reflected service in two demanding roles: first in the United States military and later inside one of New York’s maximum-security prisons.
He is remembered for both.
Principal Account Clerk Elon F. Werner
Age: 64
End of Watch: September 13, 1971
Elon Werner was a Principal Account Clerk and one of the four civilian correctional employees killed at Attica.
At 64, he was the oldest of the staff members who lost their lives. He was married and the father of two children.
Elon was also the uncle of Correction Officer Ronald Werner, who worked at the same facility. Both men were taken hostage and killed during the September 13 retaking.
Photographs from the days following the tragedy show the flag-draped coffins of Elon and Ronald being carried from an Attica funeral home. Their family endured the unimaginable burden of mourning two loved ones at the same time.
Elon’s administrative title did not separate him from the dangers of correctional service. Like every civilian employee working within the institution, he was an important member of the Attica team.
Correction Officer Ronald D. Werner
Age: 35
End of Watch: September 13, 1971
Ronald Werner had served with the New York State Department of Correctional Services for approximately six years.
He was a husband and the father of three children. He was also the nephew of Principal Account Clerk Elon Werner.
Ronald was taken hostage at the beginning of the uprising and remained in captivity for four days. He was fatally wounded by a gunshot to the chest during the retaking.
In the days that followed, Ronald’s wife was presented with the flag that had covered her husband’s coffin. It was a solemn acknowledgment of his service, but it could not replace the husband and father her family had lost.
The deaths of Ronald and his uncle made the tragedy at Attica painfully personal for the entire Werner family.
Correction Officer Harrison W. “Red” Whalen
Age: 37
End of Watch: October 9, 1971
Harrison “Red” Whalen was a correction officer, husband and father of two children.
He was taken hostage during the uprising and suffered devastating gunshot injuries during the September 13 retaking. Unlike the nine hostages who died that day, Red initially survived.
For nearly a month, he fought to recover from his wounds as his wife remained by his side. He died from those injuries on October 9, 1971, becoming the final correctional staff member whose death was attributed to the uprising.
Red’s later End of Watch can sometimes separate his name from those killed on September 13. It should not. His sacrifice was part of the same tragedy, and his family carried the same profound loss.
Eleven Men—Eleven Families Forever Changed
The 11 correctional employees killed as a result of the Attica uprising left behind a combined 38 children, including Billy Quinn’s unborn child.
Their deaths devastated families and fractured the close-knit community surrounding the prison. Survivors carried physical and emotional wounds, while spouses and children were left to rebuild lives permanently altered by what happened inside the walls.
For many years, these families felt that their experiences had been overlooked within the larger historical and political discussion of Attica. The Forgotten Victims of Attica brought surviving hostages and the families of the slain employees together, giving them a shared voice and a place to seek acknowledgment, answers and healing.
CPOF has stood with Attica’s survivors and families for decades. CPOF volunteers John Stockholm and Donny Almeter were among the staff members held hostage, and they have helped preserve the history by speaking publicly about what they experienced. John’s wife, Mary, has also shared the fear and uncertainty endured by families living near the prison throughout the standoff.
Each year, CPOF’s Board of Directors and National Honor Guard return to Attica to stand with survivors, families, correctional professionals and members of the community at the annual memorial service.
At the 55th anniversary commemoration, we once again speak the names of the correctional employees who never came home:
- Correction Officer William E. Quinn
- Correction Sergeant Edward T. Cunningham
- Correction Officer John J. D’Arcangelo Jr.
- Industrial Training Supervisor Elmer G. Hardie
- Senior Account Clerk Herbert W. Jones Jr.
- Correction Officer Richard J. Lewis
- Industrial Training Supervisor John G. Monteleone
- Correction Officer Carl W. Valone
- Principal Account Clerk Elon F. Werner
- Correction Officer Ronald D. Werner
- Correction Officer Harrison W. “Red” Whalen
They were more than hostages. They were more than casualties. They were more than names carved into a memorial.
They were members of our correctional family.
Fifty-five years later, we remember their lives, honor their service and stand beside the families and survivors who continue to carry their stories.
We will never forget.
Historical information was drawn from the New York State correctional memorial, CPOF’s Attica archives, the Officer Down Memorial Page, the New York State Museum, and surviving family accounts reported by Spectrum News.
