Tag: Crawford county Pennsylvania

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Fike, Robert J.
Army Sergeant

Robert J. Fike, age 38, from Conneautville, Pennsylvania, Crawford county.

Parents: Jim Fike
Children: Mackenzie Bliscik, 12

Service era: Afghanistan
Schools: Edinboro University of Pennsylvania (1992), Penn Trafford High (1989)
Military history: 1st Battalion, 110th Infantry Regiment, Connellsville, Pennsylvania. Purple Heart. Enlisted 1993.

Date of death: Friday, June 11, 2010
Death details: Died at Forward Operating Base Bullard, Afghanistan from wounds sustained when a male suicide bomber dressed in women’s clothing detonated explosives. Staff Sergeant Bryan A. Hoover was also killed.

Source: Department of Defense, Meadville Tribune, Pittsburgh Tribune Review, Military Times

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Dragosavac, David George
Army Sergeant

David George Dragosavac, age 21, from Meadville, Pennsylvania, Crawford county.

Parents: Frank I. Dragosavac

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: Wednesday, April 1, 1970
Death details: Hostile, killed in South Vietnam.

Source: National Archives, Associated Press (1970)

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Harned, Gary Alan
Army Sergeant 1st Class

Gary Alan Harned, age 19, from Springboro, Pennsylvania, Crawford county.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: March 24, 1970
Death details: On February 15, 2001, Joint Task Force-Full Accounting (JTF-FA, now DPAA) identified the remains of Sergeant First Class Gary Alan Harned, missing from the Vietnam War.

Sergeant First Class Harned joined the U.S. Army from Pennsylvania and was a member of the 5th Special Forces Group. On March 24, 1970, he was a member of a long-range reconnaissance patrol in Ratanakiri Province, Cambodia, that was extracted from the mission area by a UH-1H Iroquois. After picking up the patrol, the Iroquois suffered an explosion that caused it to crash. Sergeant First Class Harned was killed in the incident. Heavy enemy presence in the area prevented immediate ground investigations of the UH-1H’s crash site. In April 1995, a joint U.S. and Vietnamese search team recovered remains associated with the loss of this helicopter. In 2001, U.S. analysts identified some of the recovered remains as those of SFC Harned.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

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Deeter, Jack Earl
Army Specialist 4

Jack Earl Deeter, age 21, from Meadville, Pennsylvania, Crawford county.

Service era: Vietnam
Military history: 35th Infantry Regiment

Date of death: Monday, November 24, 1969
Death details: Killed by small arms fire, Quang Duc Province
Cemetery: Denny’s Memorial, Meadville

Source: National Archives., 35th Infantry Regiment Association

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Beck, Terry Lee
Navy Aviation Structural Mechanic-Safety Equipment 3rd Class

Terry Lee Beck from Linesville, Pennsylvania, Crawford 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 Structural Mechanic (Safety Equipment) Third Class Terry Lee Beck entered the U.S. Navy from Pennsylvania and served in Fighter Squadron 143 aboard the Constellation. He was a passenger aboard this Greyhound when it crashed, and was lost with the aircraft. His remains were not recovered. Today, Aviation Structural Mechanic (Safety Equipment) Third Class Beck 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

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Thayer, George Lytle
Army Sergeant

George Lytle Thayer, age 22, from Crawford County Cambridge Springs, Pennsylvania .

Parents: Glenn C. Thayer

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Monday, April 23, 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 First Class George Lytle Thayer, who joined the U.S. Army from Pennsylvania, served with D Company, 2nd Engineer Combat Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division. He was captured by enemy forces on December 1, 1950, as his unit withdrew from Kunu-ri to Sunchon. He and a large group of fellow prisoners were marched north to Camp 5 at Pyoktong, North Korea. Following the end of hostilities, surviving prisoners reported that he died there of malnutrition on April 23, 1951. He was buried at Camp 5, but his remains have not been among those returned to U.S. custody. Sergeant First Class Thayer is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Pittsburgh Press (1954)

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Hobart, Richard Henry
Army Private 1st class

Richard Henry Hobart from Titusville, Pennsylvania, Crawford county.

Parents: Arlene A. Hobart

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. Corporal Richard Henry Hobart joined the U.S. Army from Pennsylvania and was a member of Company L, 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. On November 2, 1950, Company L was in defensive positions with the 3rd Battalion near Unsan when it was hit by an enemy attack and forced to withdraw. Corporal Hobart went missing during this combat, though specific details surrounding his loss are unknown. After the war, surviving prisoners of war reported that CPL Hobart died of pneumonia and dysentery while he was interned at Camp 5 at Pyoktong, a prison camp near the Chinese border with North Korea. His remains were not recovered, and he was not identified among the remains returned to U.S. custody after the ceasefire. Today, Corporal Hobart is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Latrobe Bulletin (1954)

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Manross, Thomas Maxwell
Army Private 1st class

Thomas Maxwell Manross from Pennsylvania, Crawford county.

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Sunday, July 16, 1950
Death details: On the evening of July 15, 1950, the U.S. Army’s 19th Infantry Regiment held defensive positions along the south bank of the Kum River. As dusk approached, North Korean People’s Army (NKPA) tanks appeared on the opposite shore and began firing on the U.S. positions. Although U.S. troops repulsed the attacks that evening, the next morning the NKPA crossed the river and launched a major attack against the 19th Regiment. As the regiment began withdrawing south to Taejon, the North Koreans pushed deep into their defensive lines and set up a roadblock en route to Taejon. When retreating American convoys could not break through the roadblock, soldiers were forced to leave the road and attempt to make their way in small groups across the countryside. Of the 900 soldiers in the 19th Infantry when the Battle of Kum River started, only 434 made it to friendly lines. Corporal Thomas Maxwell Manross entered the U.S. Army from Pennsylvania and served with Company G, 2nd Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was taken captive by the enemy on July 16, 1950, while attempting to break through an enemy road block south of Taejon during the Battle of Kum River. Following his capture, CPL Manross was marched to various holding camps in North Korea, and eventually arrived at the village of Chunggang-jin on or around November 9. However, by the time he arrived, he suffered from exhaustion, exposure, and illness, and succumbed to his condition on November 14. He was buried by his companions at the edge of the village, but his remains were not recovered or identified following the war, and he is still unaccounted for. Today, Corporal Manross is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

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Shorts, Howard B.
Army Private

Howard B. Shorts, age 23, from Pennsylvania, Crawford county.

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Tuesday, October 27, 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. Technician Fourth Grade Howard B. Shorts entered the U.S. Army Air Forces from Pennsylvania and served with the 28th Materials Squadron, 20th Air Base Group in the Philippines during World War II. He was captured in Bataan following the American surrender on April 9, 1942, and died of beriberi and malaria on October 27, 1942, at the Cabanatuan Prison Camp in Nueva Ecija Province. 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, Technician Fourth Grade Shorts is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency