David William Janish, age 20, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Linn county.
Parents: Don B. Janish
Service era: Vietnam
Schools: Washington High graduate
Date of death: Sunday, February 22, 1970
Death details: Hostile in South Vietnam
Source: National Archives, Cedar Rapids Gazette (1970)
Gerald Lee Gardner, age 20, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Linn county.
Parents: D.V. Gardner
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Monday, February 2, 1970
Death details: Killed while on patrol in South Vietnam
Source: National Archives, Des Moines Register (1970)
Franklin William Picking, age 38, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Linn county.
Spouse: Married
Children: Pandora, Jo-Lynn, Amy
Service era: Vietnam
Schools: Shannon High (1949), Coe College graduate
Date of death: Wednesday, July 23, 1969
Death details: He was piloting a plane in support of an Army division when it was shot down over South Vietnam
Cemetery: Arlington National
Source: National Archives, Freeport Journal Standard
Donald Elmer Paxton, age 40, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Linn county.
Service era: Vietnam
Spouse: Doris (Bleakley)
Children: Leslee Paxton, 14
Parents: H.E. Paxton
Schools: Franklin High (1947) and University of Iowa (1951)
Date of death: February 22, 1969
Death details: On August 15, 2000, Joint Task Force–Full Accounting (JTF-FA, now DPAA) identified the remains of Colonel Donald Elmer Paxton, missing from the Vietnam War.
Colonel Paxton entered the U.S. Air Force from Iowa and served with the 8th Tactical Bombardment Squadron. On February 22, 1969, he piloted a B-57B Canberra (tail number 52-1532, “Yellow Bird 40”) on a night combat mission against enemy targets in Laos. During the mission, his aircraft was shot down by enemy ground fire and crashed in Khammouan Province, killing Col Paxton. A search was prevented by the rugged terrain and the active enemy presence in the loss area, and his remains were not recovered at the time. In 1996, a joint U.S./Laotian investigative team traveled to the crash site in Khammouan Province, where they recovered human remains and personal effects, and in 2000, U.S. investigators were able to identify Col Paxton from these remains.
Cemetery: Arlington National
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Cedar Rapids Gazette (1969. 2017)
Robert Mitchell Krumm, age 33, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Linn county.
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Tuesday, October 23, 1951
Death details: On October 23, 1951, a B-29A Superfortress (tail number 44-94045, call sign “Able 1”) departed Kadena Air Base, Japan, carrying thirteen crew members on a bombing mission targeting Namsi Air Field in northwest North Korea. “Able 1” flew as a part of a strike force that included ten B-29s with fighter support. As the formation approached the target, it was attacked by anti-aircraft artillery fire and MiG-15 fighters. Just after “Able 1” completed its bombing run, it was hit in the right wing fuel tank, causing an explosion with a large amount of smoke. The damaged aircraft was flying under control but was losing altitude, and it eventually crashed on a mud flat near the island of Sinmi-Do. Initial searches that continued until October 26, failed to locate the missing Superfortress or its crew. On October 29, a United Nations Partisan Infantry Korea (UNPIK) team discovered the aircraft’s wreckage along with the remains of the radio operator and navigator, but the increasing enemy activity and the rising tide in the area prevented further recovery efforts that day. Returning the next day, UNPIK discovered that one set of these remains had washed away. However, the team collected another body, which they removed for temporary burial on the island of Oesun-Do. In early November 1951, the remains of a third body that was believed to be the radar operator washed ashore on Ho-Do where it was buried by UNPIK forces. Attempts to locate the Oesun-Do an Ho-Do burial sites or recovery of any of the other missing crew remains from the crash site, have been unsuccessful following the war. Captain Robert Mitchell Krumm entered the U.S. Air Force from Iowa and was assigned to the 371st Bombardment Squadron, 307th Bombardment Wing. He was the aircraft commander aboard this Superfortress when it crashed, and he did not survive. No remains that have been recovered since the close of the war have been associated with Capt Krumm, and he is still unaccounted-for. Today, Captain Krumm is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Harold C. Milligan, age 19, from Cedar Rapids,
Iowa, Linn county.
Service era: World War II
Parents: William L. Milligan
Date of death: Friday, August 27, 1943
Death details: Killed in a plane crash in Texas.
Cemetery: Murdoch Linwood, Cedar Rapids
Source: National Archives, grave marker, Cedar Rapids Gazette (1943)
Harvey Guy Kellogg, age 27, from Linn County Cedar Rapids, Iowa .
Parents: Mark E. Kellogg
Spouse: Edith R. Kellogg (Poole)
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Thursday, March 25, 1943
Death details: Died or killed as prisoner of war.
Source: National Archives
William James Jr. Shanahan, age 23, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Linn county.
Parents: William James Shanahan Sr.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Sunday, December 7, 1941
Death details: Killed aboard the USS Oklahoma. Remains recovered May 31, 2019
Cemetery: Mt. Calvary Cemetery, Cedar Rapids
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Des Moines Register
Jack Asbury Breedlove, age 20, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Linn county.
Parents: Ethyle Berta Breedlove
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Sunday, December 7, 1941
Death details: Killed aboard the USS Oklahoma. Accounted for March 1, 2021
Cemetery: Honolulu Memorial
Source: National Archives, American Battle Monuments Commission, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Cedar Rapids Gazette (1942)
Gerald Leroy Heim, age 18, from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, Linn county.
Parents: Esther Heim
Service era: World War II
Schools: McKinley High
Date of death: Sunday, December 7, 1941
Source: National Archives, Cedar Rapids Gazette (1941)