Jeffrey R. O’Brien, age 45, from Dallas County Waukee, Iowa .
Service era: Iran
Date of death: Sunday, March 1, 2026
Death details: Died in Port Shuaiba, Kuwait during an unmanned aircraft system attack.
Source: Department of Defense, New York Times (2026)
Joshua Davis, age 19, from Perry, Iowa, Dallas county.
Service era: Afghanistan
Schools: Perry High (2009).
Military history: 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina
Date of death: Friday, May 7, 2010
Death details: Died in Helmand Province, Afghanistan
Source: KCCT, KCRG, Iowa Governor Office, Department of Defense
Kenneth Leroy Defenbaugh, age 20, from Woodward, Iowa, Dallas county.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Saturday, May 2, 1970
Death details: Hostile in South Vietnam
Source: National Archives, Associated Press (1970)
Steven Frank Edwards, age 21, from De Soto, Iowa, Dallas county.
Parents: Neil Edwards
Service era: Vietnam
Military history: 173rd Engineer Company, 173rd Airborne Bridgade
Date of death: Wednesday, February 18, 1970
Death details: Hostile in South Vietnam
Source: National Archives, Des Moines Regiser (1970)
Robert H. Nead, age 23, from Dallas County Perry, Iowa .
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Tuesday, April 24, 1945
Death details: On April 24, 1945, a B-29 Superfortress (serial number 42-94206) with a crew of eleven departed Guam for a bombing mission against enemy installations in Tachikawa, Japan. Just after it dropped its bombs, this plane caught fire and entered a slow downward turn to the right before crashing and burning on the ground. Six members of the crew were killed in the crash. Their remains were later recovered near the crash site and identified. Five members of the crew bailed out and were taken to a military prison in Tokyo, where they later died during an airstrike. The remains of two of those men were later recovered and identified, but the remains of the other three could not be located. Sergeant Robert H. Nead joined the U.S. Army Air Forces from Iowa and served in the 881st Bombardment Squadron, 500th Bombardment Group (Very Heavy) in the Pacific Theater during World War II. He was the radio operator on board Z-11 when the bomber was shot down and was captured by Japanese forces and taken to the Tokyo Military Prison in Shibuya. He was lost in the fire on May 26 and his remains have not been recovered. He remains unaccounted for. Today, Sergeant Nead is memorialized in the Courts of the Missing at the National Military Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Carroll Daily Times Herald (1945)
Philip W. Wright from Iowa, Dallas county.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Tuesday, August 22, 1944
Death details: Finding of death
Cemetery: Zachary Taylor National
Source: National Archives, grave marker
Channing R. Whitaker, age 18, from Granger, Iowa, Dallas county.
Parents: Luther Whitaker
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Monday, November 22, 1943
Death details: On May 29, 2019, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Private Channing R. Whitaker, missing from World War II. Private Whitaker joined the U.S. Marine Corps from Iowa and served with Company A, 1st Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division. He was killed in action on November 22, 1943, during the 2nd Marine Division’s invasion of the Japanese-held Betio Island, Tarawa Atoll, Gilbert Islands. He was reportedly buried in Cemetery 33 on Betio. After the close of World War II, Graves Registration personnel recovered the remains of U.S. service members buried on Betio; however, Private Whitaker’s remains were not among those recovered. In 2009, the non-profit organization History Flight located Cemetery 33 on Betio. DPAA and History Flight began excavating the area around Cemetery 33, leading to the recovery of remains from a previously undiscovered burial trench west of the cemetery. DPAA was eventually able to identify Private Whitaker from among these remains.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Nile Jr. Kinnick, age 24, from Adel, Iowa, Dallas county.
Parents: Nile Kinnick Sr.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Wednesday, June 2, 1943
Death details: Died in the Gulf of Paria, Venezuela during a training flight.
Cemetery: Memorialized by University Iowa with the naming of its football stadium, Kinnick Stadium.
Source: Nile by T. Lidd, Sports Illustrated