Promote & Preserve stories of U.S. fallen soldiers/sailors
Holly Ann Charette, age 21, from Cranston, Rhode Island, Providence county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: Hq Bn, (Hq Co, 8Th Mar, Rct-8), 2D Mar Div, Camp Lejeune, Nc
Date of death: Thursday, June 23, 2005
Death details: Hostile; Fallujah, Iraq
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times
Lewis Clark Walton, age 36, from Cranston, Rhode Island, Providence county.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Monday, May 3, 1971
Death details: On December 19, 2006, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC, now DPAA) identified the remains of Sergeant First Class Lewis Clark Walton, missing from the Vietnam War. Sergeant First Class Walton entered the U.S. Army from Rhode Island and served with Task Force 1, Advisory Element, and was assigned to Support Headquarters, USARV. On May 3, 1971, he was part of a reconnaissance patrol inserted into a remote area of Quang Nam-Da Nang Province, South Vietnam. Following its insertion into the target area, the patrol was attacked by enemy forces and SFC Walton was killed in action. His remains were not recovered at the time. Between 1992 and 1999, joint U.S./Vietnamese teams traveled to the area and investigated the incident, which led to the recovery of human remains from associated burial sites between 2004 and 2006. U.S. analysts were able to identify SFC Walton from these remains.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, findagrave.com
John Charles Reilly, age 23, from Cranston, Rhode Island, Providence county.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Friday, May 22, 1970
Death details: Non-hostile, South Vietnam
Source: National Archives
Fredric Moore Mellor, age 30, from Cranston, Rhode Island.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: August 13, 1965
Death details: On July 13, 2018, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Colonel Fredric Moore Mellor, missing from the Vietnam War.
Colonel Mellor entered the U.S. Air Force from Rhode Island and served with the 363rd Tactical Fighter Wing. On August 13, 1965, he the pilot of an RF-101 Voodoo (tail number 56-0186, call sign “Wolf 41”) that was one of two aircraft on a photo reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam. His aircraft was shot down during the mission, but Col Mellor survived and made initial radio and beeper contact with friendly rescue aircraft. However, helicopter crews sent to rescue him could not locate him, and Col Mellor was killed by enemy militia members a short time later. He was initially buried near Pu Khou Stream and Nang Stream in Vietnam, and his remains were recovered in 1992, but could not be individually identified at that time. Subsequent investigations into his case recovered historical documents and personal effects related to Col Mellor, and this evidence, coupled with a laboratory examination, were able to successfully identify his remains.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Eugene A. Franchi, age 22, from Cranston, Rhode Island, Prividence county.
Service era: World War I
Date of death: Wednesday, October 16, 1918
Death details: Died of disease
Cemetery: Arlington National
Source: Soldiers of the Great War, findagrave.com