End of Watch: October 9, 1971
Attica Correctional Facility | New York

Fifty-five years ago, on October 9, 1971, Correction Officer Harrison W. Whalen died from injuries sustained during one of the darkest chapters in correctional history.

Whalen was 37 years old, a husband and father of two. His death came nearly a month after the uprising at Attica Correctional Facility and served as another painful reminder that the consequences of those four days did not end when control of the facility was restored.

The uprising began on September 9, 1971, when more than 1,200 incarcerated individuals took control of portions of Attica and correctional employees were taken hostage. For four days, their families, coworkers and communities waited as the crisis unfolded.

When the facility was retaken on September 13, the loss of life was devastating. Correctional employees who had reported for duty days earlier never returned home to their families. Others survived the immediate events but carried serious physical and emotional injuries with them.

Harrison Whalen was among those who initially survived.

Whalen had suffered gunshot injuries during the retaking of the facility. For nearly a month, he remained alive as his family endured a different kind of vigil—one in which the immediate crisis at Attica had ended, but theirs had not.

On October 9, 1971, Whalen succumbed to his injuries.

His End of Watch made him the final correctional staff member to die as a result of the Attica uprising.

A Husband, Father and Correction Officer

Historical accounts of tragedies are often told through numbers: the number of hostages, the number of days, the number injured and the number who died.

But behind every number was a person.

Harrison W. Whalen was more than one of the correctional employees lost at Attica. He was 37 years old. He was married. He was the father of two children. He was a correction officer who went to work and became part of an event that would forever change his family, his coworkers and the corrections profession.

His family experienced the tragedy differently from many of the other families. While others learned on September 13 that their loved ones would not be coming home, the Whalen family waited.

For weeks, there was still hope.

Then, on October 9, they experienced another loss connected to Attica.

That distinction is important when we remember him today. The history of Attica did not conclude on September 13, 1971. For Whalen and his family, the final chapter came nearly a month later. For survivors and families, the effects would continue for decades.

Attica at 55

This year, the Correctional Peace Officers Foundation joined survivors, families, correctional professionals, Honor Guard members and members of the community in New York to commemorate the 55th anniversary of Attica.

For more than 25 years, CPOF has worked to ensure that the correctional employees affected by Attica—and the families who lived with its consequences—are not forgotten.

That commitment continued in September 2026.

Members of the CPOF National Honor Guard traveled to New York, where Honor Guard teams came together for a day of training before participating in the annual Attica remembrance. The gathering was about more than ceremonial precision. It provided another generation of correctional professionals the opportunity to learn the history behind the names they were there to honor.

The following day, they stood alongside survivors, families and others who have continued to carry the memory of Attica for more than half a century.

Fifty-five years later, that remembrance matters.

Many of today’s correctional professionals were not yet born when the uprising occurred. Some of those standing in formation today entered the profession decades after Harrison Whalen walked the halls of Attica.

Yet they stood in his honor.

That is how a legacy continues.

Remembering Harrison W. Whalen

October 9 holds a unique place in the history of Attica.

Nearly a month had passed since the facility was retaken. The headlines had begun to move on. Outside of the families, coworkers and communities directly affected, the world was beginning to turn its attention elsewhere.

But another correction officer was still fighting for his life.

On October 9, 1971, Correction Officer Harrison W. Whalen reached his End of Watch.

Today, 55 years later, we say his name again.

We remember the correction officer.

We remember the husband.

We remember the father of two.

And we remember the family that waited nearly a month before experiencing its own devastating loss.

For CPOF, remembering Attica means remembering each individual whose life was forever changed by those events. It means standing with the survivors and families who carried that history forward. And it means ensuring that new generations of correctional professionals understand the sacrifices made by those who came before them.

Correction Officer Harrison W. Whalen
Attica Correctional Facility, New York
End of Watch: October 9, 1971

Fifty-five years later, his service and sacrifice are not forgotten.

Taking Care of Our Own.