Gary Lynn Ruff, age 21, from Benton Harbor, Michigan, Berrien county.
Parents: Orville Ruff and Mrs William Klemm
Service era: Vietnam
Schools: Benton Harbor (1967)
Date of death: Thursday, September 3, 1970
Death details: Killed in South Vietnam in an explosion of mortar bags at his base. His detail was assigned to dispose of mortar bags by burning them.
Source: National Archives, Saint Joseph Herald Press (1970)
Robert Curtis Jr. Borton, age 20, from Benton Harbor, Michigan, Berrien County.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Wednesday, August 28, 1968
Death details: On March 29, 1995, Joint Task Force-Full Accounting (JTF-FA, now DPAA) identified the remains of Gunnery Sergeant Robert Curtis Borton Jr., missing from the Vietnam War.
Gunnery Sergeant Borton, who entered the U.S. Marine Corps from Michigan, served with Company K, 3rd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division. On August 28, 1968, he was on a fire team that departed a base in Quang Nam Province to establish an offensive position near Hoa Hai Village, Vietnam. During the mission, the fire team was ambushed and GySgt Borton was killed, but his body could not be recovered at the time. In 1993, a joint U.S./Vietnamese investigative team excavated a suspected grave site in Quang Nam Province and recovered a set of human remains. Forensic analysts later identified these remains as those of GySgt Borton.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
LaMarre Arthur Major, age 20, from Benton Harbor, Michigan, Berrien county.
Service era: Vietnam
Schools: Benton Harbor High (1964), Lake Michigan College
Military history: 35th Infantry Regiment
Date of death: Sunday, March 12, 1967
Death details: Hostile, killed, South Vietnam
Source: National Archives, 35th Infantry Regiment Association
Ernest Watson, age 21, from Berrien County Benton Harbor, Michigan .
Parents: J. T. Watson
Service era: Vietnam
Schools: Benton Harbor High (1964)
Date of death: Tuesday, February 15, 1966
Death details: Hostile, killed, South Vietnam
Source: National Archives, Herald Palladium (1966)
Bert H. Agens, age 29, from Berrien County Benton Harbor, Michigan .
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Monday, December 7, 1942
Death details: Killed in action; missing in action or buried at sea
Cemetery: Tablets of the Missing at Manila American Cemetery
Source: National Archives, American Battle Monuments Commission, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Chester D. Omweg, age 35, from Berrien County Benton Harbor, Michigan .
Parents: Allen Omweg
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Friday, November 20, 1942
Death details: In November 1942, the U.S. Army’s 32nd Infantry Division regained control of Buna, Papua New Guinea, with its goal of neutralizing an enemy threat to Port Moresby and, ultimately, to the Australian mainland itself. The rugged terrain that the soldiers faced was fiercely defended by Japanese troops and included tidal swamplands with a labyrinth of camouflaged trenches and bunkers. In December 1942, when the 32nd Infantry Division was reinforced with Australian soldiers, Buna finally fell to the Allies; however, malaria and other tropical diseases contributed to a high number of casualties and deaths for the 32nd Infantry Division. Private First Class Chester D. Omweg, who entered the U.S. Army from Michigan, was a member of Anti-Tank Company, 126th Infantry Regiment, 32nd Infantry Division. He died of malaria and pneumonia on November 20, 1942, at Mount Obree (also known as Ghost Mountain), in the Owen Mountain Stanley Range on the south coast of New Guinea. The circumstances surrounding the burial of his remains at the time of his loss are unknown, and he is still unaccounted-for. Today, Private First Class Omweg is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Herald Press (1942)
Wesley Ernest Graham, age 21, from Benton Harbor, Michigan, Berrien county.
Parents: Fred Ernest Graham
Service era: World War II
Date of death: December 7, 1941
Death details: On June 5, 2020, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency identified the remains of Seaman First Class Wesley E. Graham, missing from World War II.
Seaman First Class Graham joined the U.S. Navy from Michigan and served aboard the USS Oklahoma. On December 7, 1941, he was killed in the Japanese surprise attacks at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. SEA1 Graham’s remains were recovered from the ship following the incident; however, they could not be identified and were buried as unknowns at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii. In 2015, the DPAA began the reexaminations of unknown remains associated with the USS Oklahoma using advances in forensic technology. Sea 1 Graham’s remains were disinterred as part of this effort and were eventually identified.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Louis Edward Jr. Harris, age 21, from Benton Harbor, Michigan, Berrien county.
Parents: Louis Edward Harris Sr.
Service era: World War II
Schools: Benton Harbor High (1938)
Date of death: Sunday, December 7, 1941
Death details: Killed aboard the USS Oklahoma
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Herald Palladium (1941)