Daniel Busch, age 25, from Portage, Wisconsin, Columbia county.
Spouse: Married
Children: Child, 6 months
Service era: Operation Restore Hope (Somalia)
Schools: Portage High
Military history: Army Special Forces, Fort Bragg
Date of death: Sunday, October 3, 1993
Death details: Killed during a 16 hour fight with supporters of Somali warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid. Two U.S. Blackhawk helicopters were brought down
Source: White House Commission on Remembrance, Tulsa World
Walter Vernon Kingsley, age 20, from Wisconsin Dells, Wisconsin, Columbia county.
Parents: Alwyn and Joyce Kingsley
Service era: Beirut bombings
Schools: Immanuel Apostolic Assembly
Date of death: Sunday, October 23, 1983
Death details: Among more than 200 military personnel killed in the terroist bombing of Marine headquarters in Beirut.
Cemetery: Big Spring, Wisconsin
Source: White House Commission on Remembrance, Capital Times (1983), findagrave.com
William Dale Gorsuch, age 21, from Cambria, Wisconsin, Columbia county.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Thursday, October 2, 1969
Death details: On October 2, 1969, a C-2A Greyhound (bureau number 152796) carrying five crew members and twenty passengers took off on a routine logistics support flight from Cubi Point Naval Station, Republic of the Philippines, to the USS Constellation (CVA 64) in the Gulf of Tonkin. En route, the aircraft was in radio and radar contact with the carrier when it suddenly disappeared from the radar. There were no distress calls or beepers heard. An extensive air and surface search was begun immediately and recovered some personal effects and aircraft debris, but no survivors. Eventually, a crash site was discovered off the coast of North Vietnam, however, no remains were recovered.
Aviation Boatswain’s Mate Third Class William Dale Gorsuch, who joined the U.S. Navy from Wisconsin, served aboard the Constellation. He was aboard the Greyhound when it crashed and his remains have not been recovered. Today, Aviation Boatswain’s Mate Third Class Gorsuch is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Based on all information available, DPAA assessed the individual’s case to be in the analytical category of Non-recoverable.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Jack C Packard, age 18, from Lodi, Wisconsin, Columbia county.
Parents: Wesley L. Packard
Service era: Vietnam
Schools: Lodi High (1961)
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), Wisconsin State Journal (1962)
Paul W. Jr. McMahon, age 28, from Wisconsin, Columbia county.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Sunday, March 4, 1945
Death details: Killed in action
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency