Promote & Preserve stories of U.S. fallen soldiers/sailors
Casey Dean Combs, age 28, from Auburn, Washington, King county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: Company A, 2D Battalion, 508Th Infantry, 4 Bct, Fort Bragg, North Carolina
Date of death: Thursday, April 12, 2007
Death details: Hostile; Miri, Afghanistan
Source: Department of Defense
Michael N. Monroe, age 27, from Auburn, Washington, King county.
Service era: Gulf War
Date of death: Tuesday, October 30, 1990
Death details: Marine 1st Lt. Michael N. Monroe was killed and three other Marines injured when their HMMWV, went over an embankment and dropped about 20 feet. The Marines were shifting camp sites in night training exercises.
Source: White House Commission on Remembrance, Department of Defense, U.S. Navy
Daniel Andrew Benedett, age 19, from Auburn, Washington, King county.
Service era: Vietnam
Schools: Graduated high school in 1974
Date of death: Thursday, May 15, 1975
Death details: Marine Corps Pfc. Daniel A. Benedett of Seattle, Wash., was buried May 15, 2013 at Arlington National Cemetery, along with Air Force 2nd Lt. Richard Vandegeer of Cleveland, Ohio; Navy Hospital Corpsman 1st Class Bernard Gause Jr., of Birmingham, Ala.; Hospitalman Ronald J. Manning of Steubenville, Ohio; Marine Corps servicemen Lance Cpl. Gregory S. Copenhaver of Lewistown, Pa.; Lance Cpl. Andres Garcia of Carlsbad, N.M.; Pfc. Lynn Blessing of Lancaster, Pa.; Pfc. Walter Boyd of Portsmouth, Va.; Pfc. James J. Jacques of La Junta, Colo.; Pfc. James R. Maxwell of Memphis, Tenn.; Pfc. Richard W. Rivernburgh of Schenectady, N.Y.; Pfc. Antonio R. Sandoval of San Antonio, Texas; and Pfc. Kelton R. Turner of St. Louis, Mo. On May 12, 1975, Khmer Rouge gunboats captured the S.S. Mayaguez in the Gulf of Thailand, approximately 60 nautical miles off the coast of Cambodia. After the vessel was taken to Koh Tang Island, U.S. aircraft began surveillance flights around the island. When efforts to secure the release of the ship and its crew failed, U.S. military forces began a rescue mission. Three days after the Mayaguez seizure, the Air Force dispatched six helicopters to the island. One of the helicopters came under heavy enemy fire and crashed into the surf with 26 men on board. Thirteen of the men were rescued at sea, leaving Benedett and 12 other service members unaccounted-for from the crash. Between 1991 and 2008, investigators conducted more than 10 investigations and excavations, led by Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC). On three occasions, Cambodian authorities turned over remains believed to be those of American servicemen. In 1995, U.S. and Cambodian specialists conducted an underwater recovery of the helicopter crash site where they located remains, personal effects and aircraft debris associated with the loss. Between 2000 and 2004, all of the missing service members from this helicopter, except Benedett, were accounted-for. On January 30, 2013, Benedett was accounted-for. Scientists from JPAC and the Armed Forces Identification Laboratory (AFDIL) used circumstantial evidence and DNA process of elimination to account for his remains.
Cemetery: Arlington National
Source: National Archives, Department of Defense, Yakima Herald-Republic
Ronald Eugene Fitzgerald, age 21, from Auburn, Washington, King county.
Service era: Vietnam
Military history: Battery A, 5th BN, 2nd Artillery; Bronze Star and Purple Heart
Date of death: Thursday, May 7, 1970
Cemetery: Nashville National
Source: National Archives, grave marker