Centerville Iowa

James Derwin Cohron from Centerville, Iowa, Appanoose county.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death:  January 12, 1968
Death details: On January 12, 1968, a U.S. Army reconnaissance team carried out a combat mission in Laos. While moving toward their objective, they were ambushed by an enemy force of unknown size. The team broke contact and moved toward a predetermined rally point with the enemy in pursuit. They then set up a defensive perimeter and counted their members. One U.S. soldier and two South Vietnamese team members were found to be missing. The team was extracted from the area, and two days later a search and rescue team combed the area around grid coordinates XD 929 208, where the missing team members were last seen. A U.S. Army food ration associated with the missing U.S. soldier was located but no other sign of the team members was ever found.

Staff Sergeant James Derwin Cohron, who joined the U.S. Army from Iowa, served with the 5th Special Forces Group. He was the American member of the reconnaissance team who disappeared before the team reached the rally point, and his remains have not been recovered. While he was carried in the status of missing in action, the U.S. Army promoted Staff Sergeant Cohron to the rank of Sergeant First Class (SFC). Today, Sergeant First Class Cohron is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency