Bowers, Danny Ward
Army Corporal
Danny Ward Bowers, age 18, from Caro, Michigan, Tuscola county.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Wednesday, May 27, 1970
Death details: Hostile, killed, South Vietnam
Source: National Archives
Bowers, Danny Ward
Hendrick, Hazen Calvin
Army Sergeant
Hazen Calvin Hendrick, age 23, from Shiawassee County Caro, Michigan .
Parents: Hazen and Nina Hendrick
Spouse: Dolores (Walworth
Service era: Korea
Military history: World War II veteran
Date of death: Tuesday, June 19, 1951
Death details: On February 5, 1951, Allied forces in Korea launched an offensive against North Korean and Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) north of Wonju. Republic of Korea units and the 38th Infantry Regiment and supporting artillery units, including the 15th and 503rd Field Artillery Battalions, and the 82nd Antiaircraft Artillery and Automatic Weapons Battalion, initially met light resistance on their drive to the north. On February 11, the CCF launched an aggressive counteroffensive that caused the Allies to withdraw back southward. However, the CCF had established a series of roadblocks on the road to the south, forcing the Allies to fight their way back to friendly lines. Sergeant First Class Hazen Calvin Hendrick entered the U.S. Army from Michigan and was a member of K Company, 3rd Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He was wounded and taken as a prisoner of war (POW) by enemy forces during the Regiment’s fighting withdrawal. He was transferred north toward the POW camps on the Yalu River, however, he died of malnutrition and of his wounds in mid-June 1951, at the village of Kangdong while en route to the camps. He was buried there by his companions. U.S. investigators have not been able to access the area to search for his burial site and he has not been associated with the remains later returned to U.S. custody. Today, Sergeant First Class Hendrick is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. His name is also inscribed on the Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC, which was updated in 2022 to include the names of the fallen.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Flint Journal (1954)
Larrabee, Mathew Coleman
Navy Fireman 3rd class
Mathew Coleman Larrabee from Tuscola County Caro, Michigan .
Parents: Mars. Warren Little
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Thursday, October 15, 1942
Death details: On October 15, 1942, he was in a U.S. convoy of six ships that was towing barges loaded with urgently needed supplies toward Guadalcanal. The American forces on that island were in dire need of resupply. When the convoy was spotted by enemy aircraft, all but two ships withdrew from the area. The two ships that pressed on were the USS Meredith (DD-434,) a destroyer, and the USS Vireo (AM-54,) a lightly armed towing vessel. Upon receiving word that Japanese surface warships were operating in the area, both ships were forced to turn back from their mission. Because of its age and slow speed, Vireo was abandoned, and the crew taken aboard the Meredith. Within minutes, the Meredith was attacked by a large force of enemy aircraft. The destroyer sustained multiple bomb and torpedo hits and quickly sank. The survivors spent three days at sea before being rescued. The majority of the crews of both ships was killed in the incident.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Bay City Times (1943)