Promote & Preserve stories of U.S. fallen soldiers/sailors
Donald Dean Layton, age 21, from Leola, South Dakota, Brown county.
Parents: Edward and Dorothy (Serfoss) Layton
Spouse: Diane Geranen (June 3, 1970)
Service era: Vietnam
Schools: Spring Township rural school and Leola Grade School; Central High (1967)
Date of death: Tuesday, August 4, 1970
Death details: Died from wounds recieved July 30, 1970. He was wounded when a concealed enemy explosive device was detonated.
Cemetery: Green Mound, near Leola
Source: National Archives
Edgar Donald Matthews, age 51, from Aberdeen, South Dakota, Brown county.
Parents: Thomas F. and Anne Marie (Haley) Durfee Matthews
Spouse: Helen (1938); Ruby
Children: Sharon, Gloria, Thomas
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Wednesday, June 3, 1970
Death details: Died of heart attack in South Vietnam
Cemetery: Tulsa, Oklahoma
Source: National Archives
Wallace Edward Karnopp, age 19, from Groton, South Dakota, Brown county.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Monday, December 18, 1944
Death details: He was aboard the destroyer USS Hull as it operated as part of the Fast Carrier Strike Force in the Philippine Sea. On December 17, 1944, the Hull was participating in refueling operations when the ships of its fueling group were engulfed by Typhoon Cobra. The Hull lost its ability to steer amid the enormous waves and began taking on water. The Hull eventually took on too much water to stay afloat and rolled and sank shortly before noon, on December 18. Sixty-two crew members were rescued, but a little more than two-hundred crew members were lost in the sinking.
Cemetery: Memorialized in Black Hills National
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Mahlon George Herlofsen, age 19, from Aberdeen, South Dakota, Brown county.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Monday, November 20, 1944
Cemetery: Memorialized in Black Hills National
Source: National Archives, grave marker
Bert Fox, age 23, from Aberdeen, South Dakota, Brown county.
Service era: World War I
Date of death: Friday, July 19, 1918
Death details: Killed in action
Cemetery: Memorialized at Riverside Memorial Park in Aberdeen
Source: Soldiers of the Great War, findagrave.com