Detective Clarence M. Surgeon Way (Brooklyn)
Present name:Rochester Avenue
Location:Between Atlantic Avenue and Herkimer Street
Honoree: Clarence M. Surgeon, a Korean War veteran, became a transit patrolman in 1955. He distinguished himself by repeatedly entering the subway to bring passengers to safety during a subway fire and for once saving a woman who had fallen onto the train tracks. He was active in various community and political organizations in Crown Heights as well as in the Guardians, the association of black police officers. Detective Surgeon was a Marshall at the 1963 March on Washington and stood with Martin Luther King Jr. during his “I Have a Dream” speech. In 2002 he was honored by the House of Representatives as a role model for his service and activism. He retired with the rank of Detective First Grade in 1994. (Cornegay)
LL:2015/76