Promote & Preserve stories of U.S. fallen soldiers/sailors
Frank Flanagan, age 24, from Pawtucket, Rhode Island, Providence county.
Service era: World War I
Date of death: Sunday, November 18, 1917
Death details: Died of disease
Cemetery: Mount Saint Mary in Pawtucket
Source: Soldiers of the Great War, findagrave.com
Jesse R. Kemple, age 24, from Rego, Indiana, Orange county.
Parents: Jacob Kemple
Service era: World War I
Date of death: Saturday, November 17, 1917
Death details: Died of tuberculosis at Rockerfeller Hospital, New York
Cemetery: Oak Grove Cemetery, Rego, Indiana
Source: Indiana Historical Commission, grave marker
Donald Edward Dibble, age 24, from New Haven County Meriden, Connecticut .
Service era: Korea
Schools: Meriden High
Date of death: Unknown
Death details: By mid-November 1950, U.S. and Allied forces had advanced to within approximately sixty miles of the Yalu River, the border between North Korea and China. On November 25, approximately 300,000 Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) “volunteers” suddenly and fiercely counterattacked after crossing the Yalu. The 2nd Infantry Division, located the farthest north of units at the Chongchon River, could not halt the CCF advance and was ordered to withdraw to defensive positions at Sunchon in the South Pyongan province of North Korea. As the division pulled back from Kunu-ri toward Sunchon, it conducted an intense rearguard action while fighting to break through well-defended roadblocks set up by CCF infiltrators. The withdrawal was not complete until December 1, and the 2nd Infantry Division suffered extremely heavy casualties in the process. Sergeant Donald Edward Dibble, who joined the U.S. Army from Connecticut, served with the Headquarters and Headquarters Services Company, 2nd Engineer Combat Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division. He was taken captive on November 30, 1950, during his unit’s attempt to fight through a heavily defended enemy roadblock near Kunu-Ri, North Korea. Repatriated prisoners of war (POWs) later reported that SGT Dibble died on or before January 31, 1951, while in an aid station at the “Mining Camp” POW facility in North Korea. He was buried nearby, but his remains were not among those returned from this area after the ceasefire, and he is still unaccounted-for. Today, Sergeant Dibble is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Record Journal (1953)
John Graham Jr. Lavelle, age 24, from Kings County Brooklyn, New York .
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Unknown
Death details: On June 23, 2011, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC, now DPAA) identified the remains of Private First Class John Graham Lavelle Jr., missing from the Korean War. Private First Class Lavelle entered the U.S. Army from New York and served in Company B, 2nd Engineer Combat Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division. He was captured by the enemy on December 1, 1950, as his unit was overrun by enemy forces near Kunu-ri, North Korea. PFC Lavelle was interned at POW Camp 5 at Pyoktong, Noth Korea, where he died from malnutrition in1951, but his remains were not returned to the U.S. at that time. In 1954, the North Korean government repatriated the remains of thousands of U.S. service members during Operation Glory, many of which could not be identified at the time; however, in 2011, analysts used modern forensic techniques and identified PFC Lavelle from among these remains.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Myron Gracian Dick, age 24, from Hillsborough County Hillsboro, New Hampshire .
Spouse: Ethel (Parrotte) Dick
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Unknown
Death details: By mid-November 1950, U.S. and Allied forces had advanced to within approximately sixty miles of the Yalu River, the border between North Korea and China. On November 25, approximately 300,000 Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) “volunteers” suddenly and fiercely counterattacked after crossing the Yalu. The 2nd Infantry Division, located the farthest north of units at the Chongchon River, could not halt the CCF advance and was ordered to withdraw to defensive positions at Sunchon in the South Pyongan province of North Korea. As the division pulled back from Kunu-ri toward Sunchon, it conducted an intense rearguard action while fighting to break through well-defended roadblocks set up by CCF infiltrators. The withdrawal was not complete until December 1, and the 2nd Infantry Division suffered extremely heavy casualties in the process. Sergeant First Class Myron Gracian Dick entered the U.S. Army from New Hampshire and served in L Company of the 3rd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He was reported missing on November 30, 1950, as the 23rd Infantry faced enemy resistance while setting up rearguard positions near Hill 201 on the Namdae River. He was put in a group with other prisoners of war (POWs) who were marched to Camp 5 on the Yalu River; however, SFC Dick was very ill during this time, and died while the group was en route. He was buried in a small village near Pukchin-Tarigol, though his remains have not been recovered and he was not identified among the remains returned to the U.S. following the war. Today, Sergeant First Class Dick is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. His name is also inscribed on the Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC, which was updated in 2022 to include the names of the fallen.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Nashua Telegraph (1950)