Brandon Eugene Hadaway, age 25, from Valley, Alabama, Chambers county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: Company B, 3D Battalion, 82D Aviation Brigade, Fort Bragg, North Carolina
Date of death: Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Death details: Hostile; Upper Sangin Valley/Lz Stella, Afghanistan
Source: Department of Defense, findagrave.com
Stephen Dustin Hiller, age 25, from Waverly, Alabama, Chambers county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: A Company, 2Nd Bn, 5Th Cavalry Reg. (1St Cavalry Div), Fort Hood, Texas 76544
Date of death: Monday, April 5, 2004
Death details: Hostile; Baghdad, Iraq
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times
Richard Louis Barnes from Five Points, Alabama, Chambers county.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Thursday, June 25, 1970
Source: National Archives
Roy Delano Watts, age 25, from Chambers County Lanett, Alabama .
Parents: Emmitt Watts
Spouse: Sarah J. Watts
Children: Five
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Wednesday, April 20, 1966
Death details: Killed in vietnam when a mortar shell exploded near him.
Source: National Archives, Opelika Auburn News (1966)
Roy Edward Thomas, age 26, from Chambers County Lafayette, Alabama .
Spouse: Margaret Thomas
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Sunday, February 6, 1966
Death details: Killed in action in Vietnam
Source: National Archives, Associated Press (1966)
Billy Eearl Smith from Alabama, Chambers county.
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Tuesday, November 14, 1950
Death details: On July 11, 1950, the U.S. Army’s 21st Infantry Regiment, which had arrived in Korea six days earlier, was placed in defensive positions near the town of Chochiwon, South Korea. The regiment was not at full strength and lacked artillery and anti-tank weapons. That day, they were attacked by North Korean forces and were forced to withdraw to avoid being surrounded, as well as to buy time until they could be reinforced and resupplied. Private First Class Billy Earl Smith, who joined the U.S. Army from Alabama, served with I Company, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was captured by enemy forces north of Chochiwon on July 12, and forced to march to the Apex prison camps in North Korea. He died of exhaustion and pneumonia on November 14 at Chunggang-jin and was buried at the edge of the village. His remains were not identified among those returned to U.S. custody after the ceasefire. Today, Private First Class 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
Wesley Johnson, age 17, from Alabama, Chambers county.
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Thursday, November 2, 1950
Death details: During the last week of October 1950, Republic of Korea (ROK) Army forces under the control of the U.S. Eighth Army were advancing deep in North Korean territory, approaching the Yalu River on the Chinese-Korean border. Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) struck back in a surprise attack, engaging the ROK 1st and 6th Divisions near Unsan, some sixty miles north of Pyongyang. The U.S. 1st Cavalry Division, with the 8th Cavalry Regiment in the lead, was rushed forward to reinforce the ROK units in the Unsan area. On November 1, the regiment’s 1st Battalion took up positions north of Unsan, while the 2nd Battalion moved to guard the Nammyon River valley west of town, and the 3rd Battalion was placed in reserve at the valley’s southern end. Private First Class Wesley Johnson joined the U.S. Army from Alabama and was a member of Company B of the 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. On November 1, 1950, Company B was near Unsan in defensive positions with the 1st Battalion when the Battalion came under attack and was forced to withdraw. Private First Class Johnson went missing during this action, though circumstances surrounding his loss are unknown. He was never reported as a prisoner of war and was not identified among the remains returned to U.S. custody after the ceasefire. Today, Private First Class Johnson is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Marvin Gaines Gilmore, age 23, from Alabama, Chambers county.
Service era: World War II
Military history: 505 Parachute Infantry, Purple Heart
Date of death: Wednesday, June 7, 1944
Death details: Killed in action
Cemetery: Zachary Taylor National
Source: National Archives, grave marker