Promote & Preserve stories of U.S. fallen soldiers/sailors
Edwin Anthony II Andino, age 23, from Culpeper, Virginia, Culpeper county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: Company A, 1St Battalion, 26Th Infantry, 2 Bct, (4Id), Wurzburg, Germany
Date of death: Sunday, September 3, 2006
Death details: Hostile; Baghdad, Iraq
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times
Leonard Mallonee III Cowherd, age 22, from Culpeper, Virginia, Culpeper county.
Spouse: Married
Service era: Iraq
Schools: U.S. Military Academy (2003)
Military history: C Company, 1St Battalion / 37Th Armor, Apo Ae 09074 (Friedberg, Germany)
Date of death: Sunday, May 16, 2004
Death details: Fatally shot by an Iraqi sniper during a raid on a building holding insurgents near the Mukhayam Mosque in Karbala, Iraq
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times; Library of Virginia, Richmond
Floyd Burnett Coates, age 20, from Culpeper, Virginia, Culpeper county.
Parents: James E. Coates
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Wednesday, March 25, 1970
Death details: Killed in action
Source: National Archives, Associated Press (1970)
Daniel Lewis Wood, age 18, from Culpeper, Virginia, Culpeper county.
Parents: Dan S. Wood
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Wednesday, January 14, 1970
Source: National Archives, Associated Press (1970)
Harry Barbour Breeden, age 35, from Arlington County Culpeper, Virginia .
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Tuesday, February 20, 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. Private First Class Harry Barbour Breeden, who joined the U.S. Army from Virginia, was a member of Battery B, 38th Field Artillery Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division. He was captured by the CCF during the withdrawal from Kunu-ri on November 30, 1950. He was marched to a holding point in the Pukchin-Tarigol Valley, where he died of starvation, exposure, and pneumonia on February 20, 1951. His remains have not been recovered, and he was not identified among the remains returned to U.S. custody after the war. Today, Private First Class Breeden 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, World News (1955)
William R Williams from Culpeper, Virginia .
Parents: C. B. Williams
Spouse: Maude Denson (Denny) Williams
Service era: World War II
Military history: Enoura Maru; 31 Infantry Regiment
Date of death: Friday, December 15, 1944
Death details: On December 13, 1944, Japanese forces in the Philippines began the transfer of 1,621 Allied prisoners of war (POWs) to Japan. The POWs were to make the journey aboard transport ships whose harsh conditions and extreme overcrowding led survivors to refer to them as “Hell Ships.” The ships also lacked markings that would distinguish them from any other military target, causing some of them to be attacked by Allied forces who could not identify them as POW transports. On December 14, 1944, Allied aircraft attacked the first ship, the Oryoku Maru, in Subic Bay in the Philippines, killing many Allied POWs who became lost in the water, sank with the ship, or were washed ashore. Survivors of the bombing were put aboard two other ships, the Enoura Maru and the Brazil Maru, to continue on to Japan. During the journey, while anchored in Takao Harbor, Formosa (present-day Taiwan), the Enoura Maru was attacked by Allied aircraft from the USS Hornet (CV-8), killing Allied POWs who were lost in the water, on board the ship, or on the nearby shore. Survivors of the Enoura Maru bombing were loaded onto the Brazil Maru, and reached Japan on January 30, 1945. As a result of these incidents, Allied POWs were lost in the Philippines, at sea between the Philippines and Taiwan, while anchored in Taiwan, at sea between Taiwan and Japan, and in Japan. The attacks on these POW transports ultimately resulted in a series of death notifications from the Japanese government through the International Red Cross (IRC), and some casualties were given up to five different dates of death at various locations during the transfer. Witness accounts from surviving POWs offer detailed information for a handful of casualties, but the specific dates of loss and/or last-known locations for many of these POWs are based on the most recent reported date of death. First Lieutenant William R. Williams, who entered the U.S. Army from Virginia, served in the 31st Infantry Regiment during World War II. He was taken as a POW following the Japanese invasion and interned in the islands until December 1944, when he was put aboard the Oryoku Maru for transport to Japan. Records indicate 1LT Williams was killed several weeks later in the attack on the Enoura Maru; however, these reports often involve information solely furnished by enemy governments, with some casualties given multiple dates of death. Future research may determine that these reports were inaccurate. First Lieutenant Williams’ remains could not be identified following the war, and he is still unaccounted-for. Today, First Lieutenant Williams is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Culpeper Star Expondent (1945)