Gabriel Jared Figueroa, age 20, from Baldwin Park, California, Los Angeles county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: Hht, 1St Squadron, 8Th Cavalry, Fort Hood, Texas
Date of death: Tuesday, April 3, 2007
Death details: Killed by enemy small-arms fire in Baghdad, Iraq
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times, legacy.com
Rudy Salas, age 20, from Baldwin Park, California, Los Angeles county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: H&S Co, 1St Lar Bn, 1St Mar Div, Camp Pendleton, California; Purple Heart
Date of death: Thursday, May 20, 2004
Death details: Iraq
Cemetery: Riverside National
Source: Department of Defense, findagrave.com, Military Times
Atanacio Haromarin, age 27, from Baldwin Park, California, Los Angeles county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: Company C 3D Battalion 16Th Field Artillery Fort Hood, Texas
Date of death: Tuesday, June 3, 2003
Death details: Hostile; Balad, Iraq
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times
Lawrence Smith, age 19, from Los Angeles County Baldwin Park, California .
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Friday, November 26, 1971
Death details: Body recovered
Source: National Archives
Dennis Charles Ward, age 20, from Baldwin Park, California, Los Angeles county.
Spouse: Teresa M. Ward
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Friday, January 23, 1970
Death details: Body recovered
Source: National Archives, Los Angeles Times (1970)
Steven Morris Hastings, age 19, from Los Angeles County Baldwin Park, California .
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Thursday, August 1, 1968
Death details: On August 1, 1968, a UH-1C Iroquois (tail number 66-15154, call sign “Mad Dog 36”) with four crew members was one of two helicopters on a combat mission to extract an Army Special Forces team under enemy attack. Due to inclement weather and poor visibility, the mission was aborted and the helicopters headed back to base. During the return flight, the Iroquois became separated from the other helicopter, and the aircraft commander radioed that he was redirecting the Iroquois to Bien Hoa Air Base. After that, radio contact was lost, and the helicopter was not heard from again. In 1971, the Iroquois was discovered to have crashed in the jungle northwest of Saigon in Phuoc Long Province, South Vietnam; however, the remains of only one crew member could be identified among the wreckage. The other three crew members remain missing. Specialist 5 Steven Morris Hastings entered the U.S. Army from California and served in the 240th Assault Helicopter Company, 214th Aviation Battalion, 12th Aviation Group. He was the crew chief aboard the Iroquois when it crashed on August 1, 1968, and his remains were not recovered. Following the incident, the Army posthumously promoted SP5 Hastings to the rank of Staff Sergeant (SSG). Today, Staff Sergeant Hastings is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Donald George Green, age 33, from Los Angeles County Baldwin Park, California .
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Tuesday, November 16, 1965
Death details: Captain Donald George Green, who joined the U.S. Air Force from California, served with the 469th Tactical Fighter Squadron. On November 16, 1965, he piloted a single-seat F-105D Thunderchief (tail number 62-4332) on a combat mission over North Vietnam. As the flight left the target, Capt Green radioed that his aircraft had been hit by fragments of a surface to air missile, and that he was going to try to fly it to the Gulf of Tonkin and bail out near an Allied destroyer. Pilots in the flight informed Capt Green that his aircraft was on fire and suggested that he bail out as soon as possible. Although Capt Green managed to get the Thunderchief to the Gulf of Tonkin, it broke in half and disintegrated before he could bail out. His body could not be recovered. Today, Captain Green is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. Based on all information available, DPAA assessed the individual’s case to be in the analytical category of Non-recoverable.
Source: National Archives, dpaa
Maarten Degroot, age 19, from Los Angeles County Baldwin Park, California .
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Tuesday, August 24, 1965
Death details: Killed when the transport plane he was aboard crashed in Hong Kong.
Source: National Archives, UPI (1965), Associated Press (1965)
Kenneth Virgil Brown from Los Angeles County Baldwin Park, California .
Parents: Thomas Allen Brown
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Wednesday, October 25, 1944
Death details: Killed in the sinking of the USS Gambier Bay during the Battle of Leyte.
Cemetery: Manila American Cemetery
Source: National Archives, American Battle Monuments Commission, Los Angeles Times (1945)