Ladouceur, Raymond O.
Army Private
Raymond O. Ladouceur from New York, Albany county.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: August 15, 1944
Death details: Killed in action
Source: National Archives, family
Ladouceur, Raymond O.
McMahon, Earl W.
Army Private 1st class
Earl W. McMahon from New York, Albany county.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Friday, July 7, 1944
Death details: On June 15, 1944, approximately 70,000 Allied troops landed on the island of Saipan in the Mariana Islands. For three weeks, American troops fought through well-organized Japanese defenses in cave-riddled mountainous terrain and pushed the enemy inland. By early July the Japanese were unable to retreat farther. At dawn on July 7, 1944, approximately four-thousand Japanese troops launched a massive banzai charge against U.S. Army and Marine Corps lines. The 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 27th Infantry Division’s 105th Regiment bore the brunt of the charge and took heavy losses. Barely one hundred men from each battalion survived the attack uninjured. American reinforcements stopped the attackers and defeated the Japanese force, securing the island by July 9. Many soldiers and marines who went missing in the attack remain unaccounted-for. Private First Class Earl W. McMahon entered the U.S. Army from New York and served in Company B, 105th Infantry Regiment, 27th Infantry Division. This company became surrounded during the Japanese assault of July 7 and fought with dwindling ammunition until relieved in the afternoon. PFC McMahon was killed during this fighting, but the exact circumstances of his loss are unknown. His remains have not been recovered or identified following the war, and he is still unaccounted-for. Today, Private First Class McMahon is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, findagrave.com
Odonovan, James J.
Army Major
James J. Odonovan from New York, Albany county.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Sunday, October 18, 1942
Death details: Following the Allied surrender on the Bataan Peninsula on April 9, 1942, the Japanese began the forcible transfer of American and Filipino prisoners of war to various prison camps in central Luzon, at the northern end of the Philippines. The largest of these camps was the notorious Cabanatuan Prison Camp. At its peak, Cabanatuan held approximately 8,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war that were captured during and after the Fall of Bataan. Camp overcrowding worsened with the arrival of Allied prisoners who had surrendered from Corregidor on May 6, 1942. Conditions at the camp were poor, with food and water extremely limited, leading to widespread malnutrition and outbreaks of malaria and dysentery. By the time the camp was liberated in early 1945, approximately 2,800 Americans had died at Cabanatuan. Prisoners were forced to bury the dead in makeshift communal graves, often completed without records or markers. As a result, identifying and recovering remains interred at Cabanatuan was difficult in the years after the war. Major James J. O’Donovan entered the U.S. Army from New York and was a battalion executive in the 31st Infantry Regiment in the Philippines during the Japanese invasion. He was wounded twice during the Battle of Bataan, and provided leadership for front-line defensive positions during a four-day battle at Abucay Hacienda, helping three depleted companies withdraw from the peninsula. After the American surrender in April, he was taken prisoner by the Japanese and forced on the Bataan Death March. Eventually, MAJ O’Donovan was interned at the Cabanatuan Prison Camp, where he died of beriberi October 18, 1942. He was buried in the camp cemetery; however, his remains could not be associated with any remains recovered from Cabanatuan after the war. Today, Major O’Donovan is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Smith, Leonard Ferdnay
Navy Metalsmith 1st class
Leonard Ferdnay Smith, age 29, from Albany County Albany, New York .
Spouse: Doris G. Smith
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Sunday, December 7, 1941
Death details: Killed aboard the USS Oklahoma. Accounted for April 16, 2020
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Stern, Charles M. Jr.
Navy Reserves Ensign
Charles M. Jr. Stern, age 26, from Albany County Albany, New York .
Parents: Charles M. Stern
Spouse: Joan M. Stern
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Sunday, December 7, 1941
Death details: Killed aboard the USS Oklahoma. Accounted for September 24, 2018
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Buffalo Courier Express (1943(
Smith, Leonard Ferdnay
Navy Metalsmith 1st class
Leonard Ferdnay Smith, age 29, from Albany County Albany, New York .
Spouse: Doris G. Smith
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Sunday, December 7, 1941
Death details: Killed aboard the USS Oklahoma. Accounted for April 16, 2020
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Stern, Charles M. Jr.
Navy Reserves Ensign
Charles M. Jr. Stern, age 26, from Albany County Albany, New York .
Parents: Charles M. Stern
Spouse: Joan M. Stern
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Sunday, December 7, 1941
Death details: Killed aboard the USS Oklahoma. Accounted for September 24, 2018
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Buffalo Courier Express (1943(
Smith, Leonard Ferdnay
Navy Metalsmith 1st class
Leonard Ferdnay Smith, age 29, from Albany, New York
Spouse: Mrs. Doris G. Smith
Service era: World War II
Date of death: December 7, 1941. Killed aboard the USS Oklahoma. Accounted for April 16, 2020
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Wade, Howard V.
Navy Reserves Ensign
Howard V. Wade, age 22, from Albany County Albany, New York .
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Friday, October 31, 1941
Death details: Died in the sinking of the destroyer USS Reuben James
Source: Daily News (1941)