John Albert Gioia, age 21, from Batavia, New York, Genesee county.
Spouse: Delores (Farwell)
Service era: Vietnam
Schools: Batavia High (1967)
Date of death: Tuesday, June 9, 1970
Death details: He was killed instnatly when a pneumatic roller he was operating near Hai Van Tas dropped over a cliff
Source: National Archives, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (1970)
Arthur Augustus Barry, age 23, from Batavia, New York, Genesee county.
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Sunday, September 16, 1951
Death details: On April 22, 1951, elements of the 24th Infantry Division along with the 5th Regimental Combat Team (RCT) were dug into positions near Seoul, South Korea, where the Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) had regrouped and begun a large-scale effort to penetrate the valley areas east of Seoul. Just prior to the main CCF offensive, the 5th RCT was executing part of a blocking action known as Operation Dauntless, in which its 1st and 2nd Battalions launched an attack against CCF forces in the Chorwon Valley to the north. They pushed the enemy out of the area and set up defensive positions, but the CCF soon regrouped and returned with a massive counterattack. While this assault was repelled, heavy pressure over the next eight days forced the 24th Infantry Division, along with the 5th RCT, to gradually fall back to stronger positions. The U.S. units suffered heavy casualties over the course of the fighting and withdrawal. Corporal Arthur Agustus Barry entered the U.S. Army from New York and served in H Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Regimental Combat Team, 24th Infantry Division. He was captured near the village of Udamn-jang, South Korea, on April 23, 1951, during the 5th RCT’s withdrawal. He was marched with other prisoners into North Korea and eventually arrived at holding camps near Suan in May and June. In September, CPL Barry was marched farther north towards the Chinese prison camps along the banks of the Yalu River; however, he died of malnutrition on September 16 at a holding camp near Kangdong, east of Pyongyang. He was buried by his companions near the village, but his remains could not be recovered or identified following the war. Today, Corporal Barry is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle
Laverne J Zehler, age 20, from Genesee County Batavia, New York .
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Saturday, May 26, 1945
Death details: On April 24, 1945, a B-29 Superfortress (serial number 42-94206) with a crew of eleven departed Guam for a bombing mission against enemy installations in Tachikawa, Japan. Just after it dropped its bombs, this plane caught fire and entered a slow downward turn to the right before crashing and burning on the ground. Six members of the crew were killed in the crash. Their remains were later recovered near the crash site and identified. Five members of the crew bailed out and were taken to a military prison in Tokyo, where they later died during an airstrike. The remains of two of those men were later recovered and identified, but the remains of the other three could not be located. Cpl. LaVerne J. Zehler entered the U.S. Army Air Forces from New York and served in the 93rd Bombardment Squadron, 19th Bombardment Group. On March 10, 1945, he was the radio operator on a B-29 Superfortress (serial number 44-69686) that took off from Guam for a bombing mission against enemy installations in Tokyo, Japan. During the mission, this aircraft crashed in Itabashi Village, Tsukuba District, Ibaraki Prefecture. Nine of the 12 men on board died in the crash. Of the three survivors, one was executed and the other two, including Zehler, were sent to the Tokyo Military Prison. On the night of May 25, 1945, a massive air raid ignited fires that consumed large parts of Tokyo, including the prison. All American prisoners held there were killed. U.S. personnel later recovered the remains of U.S. service members from the site of the fire, but not all could be identified at the time. Zehler has not been associated with any remains recovered from the area and is still unaccounted for. He is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Times Union (1946)