Promote & Preserve stories of U.S. fallen soldiers/sailors
Robert D. Gordon II, age 22, from River Falls, Alabama, Covington county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: 2nd Battalion, 1st Infantry Regiment, 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Lewis, Washington.
Date of death: Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Death details: Died at Landstuhl Regional Medical Center in Landstuhl, Germany from a non-combat related illness.
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times
Cecil Clayton Schofield, age 27, from Andalusia, Alabama, Covington county.
Parents: Calry C. Schofield
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Saturday, May 23, 1970
Death details: Killed in action
Source: National Archives, Associated Press (1970)
James Steven Stanley, age 22, from Opp, Alabama, Covington county.
Parents: Fred O. Stanley
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Monday, March 16, 1970
Death details: Killed in action in Vietnam
Source: National Archives, Montgomery Advertiser (1970)
Max Duane Kersey, age 21, from Opp, Alabama, Covington county.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Monday, January 5, 1970
Death details: Non-hostile death in Vietnam
Source: National Archives, Associated Press (1970)
Tellis Wayland Donaldson, age 36, from Covington County Lockhart, Alabama .
Parents: Lena R. Donaldson
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Thursday, November 30, 1950
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. Master Sergeant Tellis Wayland Donaldson, who joined the U.S. Army from Alabama, served with Battery C, 38th Field Artillery Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division. He went missing in action on November 30, 1950, as his unit made a fighting retreat from Kunu-ri south to Sunchon. He was not reported as a prisoner of war (POW), though a POW returnee mentioned that he had been killed on the battlefield. The area where he went missing was never again under friendly control, and his remains have not been identified among those returned to U.S. custody. Today, Master Sergeant Donaldson is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. His name is also inscribed on the Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC, which was updated in 2022 to include the names of the fallen.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Birmingham Post Herald (1950)
Comer A. Wilson, age 34, from Andalusia, Alabama, Covington county.
Spouse: Martha Anne Wilson
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Sunday, December 7, 1941
Death details: Killed aboard the USS Arizona
Source: National Archives, Montgomery Advertiser (2000, 1942)
O. C. Jr. Clark from Andalusia, Alabama, Covington county.
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Unknown
Death details: On July 5, 1950, Task Force Smith, the first U.S. ground element to engage North Korean People’s Army (NKPA) troops, was defending a position north of Osan, South Korea. The Task Force’s goal was to delay enemy forces by blocking their movement down the road south from Suwon to Taejon, which was a major avenue of advance for the NKPA. That morning, the Task Force was engaged by a column of enemy tanks. The anti-tank weapons that the infantrymen employed were ineffective, and a large number of tanks broke through their position. Task Force Smith was forced to withdraw to the south, suffering heavy casualties in the process. Private First Class O.C. Clark Jr., who joined the U.S. Army from Alabama, served with C Company, 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. His unit was part of Task Force Smith, and he was wounded and captured by enemy forces on July 5. He was forced to march north to the Apex prison camps in North Korea, and died of his wounds, exhaustion and pneumonia at the camp at Hanjang-ni on an unspecified date in February, 1951. Although he was buried at the edge of the compound, his remains were not identified among those returned to U.S. custody after the ceasefire. Today, Private First Class Clark is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency