Tag: Cochise County Arizona

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Hoy, Clinton M.
Army Sergeant

Clinton M. Hoy from Sierra Vista, Arizona, Cochise county.

Spouse: Maria Hoy

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)

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Mick, Billy W.
Army Sergeant

Billy W. Mick from Sierra Vista, Arizona, Cochise county.

Spouse: Rosa K. Mick

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)

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Encinas, Richard Caballero
Army Corporal

Richard Caballero Encinas, age 22, from Cochise County Arizona.

Parents: Nellie R. Cabellero

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Thursday, February 15, 1951
Death details: By mid-November 1950, U.S. and Allied forces had advanced to within approximately sixty miles of the Yalu River, the border between North Korea and China. On November 25, approximately 300,000 Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) “volunteers” suddenly and fiercely counterattacked after crossing the Yalu. The 2nd Infantry Division, located the farthest north of units at the Chongchon River, could not halt the CCF advance and was ordered to withdraw to defensive positions at Sunchon in the South Pyongan province of North Korea. As the division pulled back from Kunu-ri toward Sunchon, it conducted an intense rearguard action while fighting to break through well-defended roadblocks set up by CCF infiltrators. The withdrawal was not complete until December 1, and the 2nd Infantry Division suffered extremely heavy casualties in the process. Sergeant Richard Caballero Encinas, who joined the U.S. Army from Arizona, served with A Company, 2nd Engineer Combat Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division. He was captured by enemy forces on an unknown date during the 2nd Engineer’s withdrawal to Sunchon. Surviving prisoners who were interned with him reported SGT Encinas died of dysentery and malnutrition at Camp 5, Pyoktong, North Korea, on February 15, 1951. His remains have not been recovered, and he was not identified among the remains returned to the U.S. following the war. Today, Sergeant Encinas is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, The Californian (1954)

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Vejar, Frank G.
Army Sergeant

Frank G. Vejar, age 19, from Arizona, Cochise county.

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Thursday, November 30, 1950

Death details: Accounted for April 14, 2020. In late 1950, Vejar was a member of Heavy Mortar Company, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on Nov. 30, 1950, when his unit was attacked by enemy forces near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea. Following the battle, his remains could not be recovered.
On July 27, 2018, following the summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un in June 2018, North Korea turned over 55 boxes, purported to contain the remains of American service members killed during the Korean War. The remains arrived at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii on Aug. 1, 2018, and were subsequently accessioned into the DPAA laboratory for identification.
To identify Vejar’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and autosomal DNA (auSTR) analysis.
Vejar’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Vejar will be buried in his hometown.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

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Yanez, Felix M.
Army Private

Felix M. Yanez from Arizona, Cochise county.

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Sunday, July 16, 1950
Death details: 

On July 13, 2022, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Private Felix Martinez Yanez, missing from the Korean War.

Private Yanez entered the U.S. Army from Arizona and was a member of Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. On July 16, 1950, Private Yanez was killed in action while fighting the North Korean People’s Army along the Kum River, north of Taejon, South Korea. His remains could not be recovered at the time of his loss. In March of 1951, a set of unknown remains were recovered near the village of Tuman-ni, South Korea, along the main road that the 19th Infantry Regiment had used to withdraw. The unknown remains were buried at the United Nations Military Cemetery Tanggok before being transferred to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii. In August 2019, the DPAA exhumed these unknown remains and accessioned them into the DPAA laboratory for potential identification. Laboratory analysis and circumstantial evidence established the unknown remains as those of Private Yanez.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

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Brown, Marcus
Marines Reserves Private 1st class

Marcus Brown, age 20, from Bisbee, Arizona, Cochise county.

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Saturday, November 20, 1943
Death details: From November 20 through 23, 1943, the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Navy conducted a large-scale amphibious assault on the Japanese-held atoll of Tarawa as part of Operation Galvanic, the Allied capture of the Gilbert Islands. Located 2,500 miles southwest of Hawaii, Tarawa was a crucial stepping stone in the planned U.S. offensive across the central Pacific toward Japan. The Japanese garrison on Tarawa’s main island of Betio was well-entrenched with hundreds of bunkers and gun positions behind formidable beach obstacles. The first wave of Marines approaching the shore encountered lower-than-expected tides, forcing them to leave their landing craft on the reef and wade the hundreds of yards to the beach under intense enemy fire. The heaviest number of U.S. casualties were suffered during this phase of the landing. Eventually, rising tides allowed U.S. warships to maneuver closer to shore and support the troops with effective naval gunfire. More Marines landed on the second day, launching attacks inland from the beaches and seizing the Japanese airfield on the island. However, the enemy launched vicious counterattacks and two more days of intense fighting were needed to secure Betio. The last enemy strongpoints were taken on the morning of November 23. The fighting on Betio cost the Marines nearly 3,000 casualties but enabled U.S. forces to press further across the Pacific and yielded valuable tactical lessons that reduced U.S. losses in future amphibious landings. Private First Class Marcus Brown, who entered the U.S. Marine Corps from California, served in Company M, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, during the Battle of Tarawa. On November 20, he was killed in action on the atoll. His remains could not be located in post-war searches of Tarawa. Today, Private First Class Brown is memorialized in the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Cemetery: Honolulu Memorial

Source: National Archives, American Battle Monuments Commission, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

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Porter, John E.
Army Private 1st class

John E. Porter from Arizona, Cochise county.

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Saturday, July 25, 1942
Death details: Following the Allied surrender on the Bataan Peninsula on April 9, 1942, the Japanese began the forcible transfer of American and Filipino prisoners of war to various prison camps in central Luzon, at the northern end of the Philippines. The largest of these camps was the notorious Cabanatuan Prison Camp. At its peak, Cabanatuan held approximately 8,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war that were captured during and after the Fall of Bataan. Camp overcrowding worsened with the arrival of Allied prisoners who had surrendered from Corregidor on May 6, 1942. Conditions at the camp were poor, with food and water extremely limited, leading to widespread malnutrition and outbreaks of malaria and dysentery. By the time the camp was liberated in early 1945, approximately 2,800 Americans had died at Cabanatuan. Prisoners were forced to bury the dead in makeshift communal graves, often completed without records or markers. As a result, identifying and recovering remains interred at Cabanatuan was difficult in the years after the war. Private First Class John E. Porter joined the U.S. Army Air Forces from Wyoming and served with the 27th Material Squadron, 20th Airbase Group in the Philippines during World War II. He was captured following the American surrender and participated in the Bataan Death March. He was ultimately interned in the Cabanatuan Prison Camp in Nueva Ecija Province, where he died of malaria on July 25, 1942. He was buried in a communal grave in the camp cemetery along with other deceased American POWs; however, his remains could not be associated with any remains recovered from Cabanatuan after the war. Today, Private First Class Porter is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

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Galusha, Niles H.
Private

Niles H. Galusha, age 23, from Lowell, Arizona, Cochise county.

Service era: World War I

Date of death: Thursday, October 3, 1918
Death details: Died of accident

Source: Soldiers of the Great War, findagrave.com