Cass County Nebraska

Redding, Blaine E.
Army Specialist

Blaine E. Redding, age 22, from Plattsmouth, Nebraska, Cass county.

Parents: Theresa Redding and Blaine Redding
Spouse: Victoria Nicole (Colwell) Redding

Service era: Afghanistan
Military history: 2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Enlisted September 2007.

Date of death: Monday, June 7, 2010
Death details: Died of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked their vehicle with an improvised explosive device in Konar, Afghanistan. Also killed were.Joshua A. Lukeala, 23, of Guam; Matthew R. Catlett, 23, of Houston, Texas; Charles S. Jirtle, 29, of Oklahoma.
Cemetery: Oak Hill, Plattsmouth

Source: Department of Defense, Journal Star, Houston Chronicle, Plattsmouth Journal, Military Times

Morrison, Tom Barton
Army Sergeant

Tom Barton Morrison, age 24, from Plattsmouth, Nebraska, Cass county.

Spouse: Clarice M. Morrison

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: Friday, March 16, 1962
Death details: Among 93 soldiers aboard a transport plane on a “secret mission” to Vietnam. Wreaths Across America in 2021: “Very little is known about what happened to the plane and its passengers, and due to the circumstance surrounding this mission, the names of those lost have not yet been added to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C.”
Cemetery: A memorial honoring the lives lost was dedicated in 2021 in Columbia Falls, Maine

Source: Atlanta Counstitution (1962), MauiNow (2021), UPI (1962)

Bradley, Ronald G.
Army Private 1st class

Ronald G. Bradley from Nebraska, Cass county.

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Thursday, June 11, 1953
Death details: Late at night on June 10, 1953, Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) launched an attack against an important American outpost known as “Outpost Harry,” which commanders had deemed a “major outpost…to be held at all costs.” Following hours of intense bombardment, Chinese infantry attacked the American trench lines in front of the outpost. The CCF succeeded in capturing the trenches but intense hand-to-hand combat kept the CCF from advancing farther. Attacks persisted through the next day and late into June 11. By the morning of June 12, the Chinese forces withdrew. Similar assaults continued on “Outpost Harry” through the next week. Corporal Ronald George Bradley entered the U.S. Army from Nebraska and served in Company B, 1st Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division. He went missing during the CCF assault on “Outpost Harry,” though specific details regarding his loss are unknown. His remains were never recovered and we have found no evidence suggesting he was alive in enemy hands. Today, Corporal Bradley is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Smith, Francis Keith
Army Corporal

Francis Keith Smith from Nebraska, Cass county.

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Saturday, December 2, 1950

Death details:

On the evening of November 27, 1950, Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) launched a massive attack against the U.S. and United Nations troops stationed in the Chosin Reservoir area in northeast North Korea, resulting in a seventeen-day conflict that became known as the Battle of Chosin Reservoir. At the time of the initial CCF attack, members the U.S. Army’s 31st and 32nd Infantry Regiments were defending the area north of Sinhung-ni, on the east side of the reservoir. The defenders were overwhelmed by the numerically superior CCF, and on December 1, were forced to withdraw to friendly lines at Hagaru-ri. Chinese roadblocks from Sinhung-ni to Hagaru-ri along with the constant enemy fire from the surrounding high ground, made the withdrawal route extremely dangerous. Eventually, the column was broken into separate segments, which the CCF attacked individually. Many men were lost or captured during the moving battle, with survivors reaching friendly lines in Hagaru-ri on December 2 and 3.

Corporal Francis Keith Smith entered the U.S. Army from Nebraska and was a member of Company K, 3rd Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. Corporal Smith was reported killed in action on December 2, at some point during the withdrawal from Sinhung-ni to Hagaru-ri, though specific details regarding his loss are unknown. He was never reported as a prisoner of war and he remains unaccounted-for. Today, Corporal Smith is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Back To Top