Promote & Preserve stories of U.S. fallen soldiers/sailors
James Lee Luttrell, 19, from Owensboro, Kentucky, Daviess county.
Service era: Vietnam
Parent: Helen Luttrell
Death details: Killed in action.
Date of death: Friday, June 21, 1968
Cemetery: Mount Zion Methodist Episcopal Church
Source: National Archives, Owensboro Messenger Inquirer (1968), Louisville Courier Journal (1968), grave marker
Paul Lee Price, age 19, from Owensboro, Kentucky, Daviess county.
Service era: Vietnam
Parents: Robert E. Price
Spouse: Charlotte Price
School: Daviess County High (1966)
Military History: Company I, 3rd Battalion, 9th Marine Regiment
Date of death: Saturday, September 23, 1967
Death details: Killed in Vietnam by rifle fire and fragmentation from hostile explosives.
Source: National Archives, Messenger-Inquirer (1967, 2016)
James Murl Wilson, age 21, from Daviess County Utica, Kentucky .
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Thursday, September 7, 1967
Death details: Killed in Vietnam when his unit was ambushed.
Cemetery: Mount Zion Methodist
Source: National Archives, grave marker, Owensboro Messenger Inquirer (1970)
Charles Ervin Shelton, age 33, from Owensboro, Kentucky, Daviess county.
Spouse: Marian Shelton
Service era: Vietnam
Military history: 712 Air Force
Date of death: Monday, May 24, 1965 was the least day he was seen alive.
Death details: Spy plane shot down; His sister, Wanda Newcom, maintained that her brother was alive. The Shelton family successfully sued the U.S. government to not let Shelton be declared dead with about 2,200 other POWs during the Carter administration.
Captain Charles Ervin Shelton, who joined the U.S. Air Force from Kentucky, was a member of the 15th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron. On April 29, 1965, he piloted a single-seated RF-101C Voodoo (tail number 56-0190, call sign “Wolf 20”) as the flight leader of a two-plane photo reconnaissance mission over northern Laos. The mission’s primary target was obscured by poor weather conditions, so Capt Shelton directed the flight to a secondary target near Sam Neua, Laos. As he passed over the secondary target, Capt Shelton’s Voodoo was struck by enemy ground fire. The aircraft crashed in the vicinity of (GC) 992 632. Capt Shelton successfully parachuted to the ground and stayed in radio contact with the other aircraft on the mission. He was observed on the ground and rescue helicopters were dispatched to his location but inclement weather delayed rescue attempts, and he was not seen again. Further attempts to locate him were unsuccessful. Following the incident, the Air Force promoted Capt Shelton to the rank of Colonel (Col). Today, Colonel Shelton is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. He was declared dead in 1994, years after Marian Shelton took her own life after years of fighting for her husband.
Source: National Archives, Evansville Courier & Press, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agnecy, New York Times 1994)
James R. Robertson from Kentucky, Daviess county.
Parents: Sally Robertson (July 8, 1900 – March 5, 1983)
Service era: Korea
Military history: There are conflicting days of death because Cpl. Robertson died while captured. Bronze Star Medal, Purple Heart
Date of death: Thursday, November 30, 1950
Death details: Died while captured
Cemetery: Rosehill, Owensboro
Source: National Archives, grave marker
William Eugene Brashear, age 24, from Owensboro, Kentucky, Daviess county.
Parents: Gilbert Eugene Brashear and Porter Lou Petri Brashear
Spouse: Thelma Brashear
Children: Alan Eugene Brashear, 11 months
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Thursday, November 2, 1950
Death details: On December 16, 2011, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC, now DPAA) identified the remains of Sergeant William Eugene Brashear, missing from the Korean War. Sergeant Brashear entered the U.S. Army from Kentucky and served with Company B, 70th Medium Tank Battalion, 24th Infantry Division. On November 2, 1950, his company was supporting elements of the 1st Cavalry Division near Unsan, North Korea. That day, Chinese Communist Forces struck the 1st Cavalry Division’s lines, collapsing the perimeter and forcing a withdrawal. Sergeant Brashear was killed during the fighting at Unsan. Due to the intensity of this firefight, his body was not recovered at the time of his loss. In 2000, a joint U.S./North Korean team excavated a mass grave that had been discovered in Unsan, where they recovered human remains correlating to this combat. In 2007, U.S. scientists identified Sgt Brashear among these remains. On March 30, 2012, his remains were brought to Owensboro for burial next to his parents.
Cemetery: Elmwood Cemetery, Owensboro
Source: National Archives, Associated Press, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Owensboro Messenger (1951)
Robert Arle Wright, age 18, from Kentucky, Daviess county.
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Sunday, July 16, 1950
Death details: The government identified Robert’s remains on August 15, 2022. 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. Private First Class Robert Arle Wright entered the U.S. Army from Kentucky and served with Company C, 1st Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He went missing on July 16, when Company C’s positions outside Taejon were overrun during the Battle of Kum River. He was never reported to be a prisoner of war. Today, Private First Class Wright is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Noble Junior Vanover, age 19, from Daviess County Utica, Kentucky .
Parents: Herbert R. Vanover
Service era: World War II
Military history: 3rd Marines
Date of death: Tuesday, March 13, 1945
Death details: Killed at Iwo Jima
Cemetery: Memorialized at Mount Zion Methodist
Source: National Archives, grave marker, Messenger Inquirer (1955)
Frank L. Gideon, age 25, from Daviess County Owensboro, Kentucky .
Service era: World War I
Date of death: Sunday, February 16, 1919
Death details: Died of disease
Source: Soldiers of the Great War