James Dennis Priestap, age 39, from Hardwood, Michigan, Dickinson county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: 46Th Military Police Company, 759Th Military Police Battalion, Kingsford, Mi
Date of death: Thursday, November 23, 2006
Death details: Hostile; Baghdad, Iraq
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times
Ronald Edward Gerstner, age 31, from Sagola, Michigan, Dickinson county.
Parents: Edward N. Gerstner
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Monday, November 9, 1970
Death details: Non-hostile, died from illness, South Vietnam
Source: National Archives, Associated Press (1970)
Hugh J. Boylan from Michigan, Dickinson county.
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Sunday, November 26, 1950
Death details: On November 25, 1950, Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) attacked en masse all along the U.S. Eighth Army front on both sides of the Ch’ ongch’ on River in northwestern North Korea. The 2nd Infantry Division and supporting units, vastly outnumbered, were forced to conduct fighting withdrawals to the south to prevent Chinese flanking maneuvers. Chinese troops overran some of the artillery and mortar units that were in positions along the River during the beginning of their offensive. Private First Class Hugh Joseph Boylan, who joined the U.S. Army from Michigan, served with Headquarters Company, 2nd Chemical Mortar Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division. He went missing in action north of Yongdamni, North Korea on November 26, 1950, as the 2nd Infantry Division was defending the Ch’ ongch’ on River line. No one saw him fall and he was not reported to be a prisoner of war. The area where he went missing remained in enemy hands for the rest of the war, so no searches could be conducted for him. After the war, his remains were not identified among those returned to U.S. custody. Private First Class Boylan is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Gerald O. Olson from Michigan, Dickinson county.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Friday, July 10, 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. Corporal Gerald O. Olson entered the U.S. Army from Michigan and served in the 17th Ordnance Company in the Philippines during World War II. He was captured in Bataan following the American surrender on April 9, 1942, and died of dysentery on July 10, 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, Corporal Olson is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Joseph Baraga, age 26, from Channing, Michigan, Dickinson county.
Parents: Josephine Baraga
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Sunday, December 7, 1941
Death details: Killed aboard the USS Arizona. Remains not recovered.
Cemetery: Tablets of the Missing at Honolulu Memorial
Source: National Archives, American Battle Monuments Commission, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Donald Clash from Iron Mountain, Michigan, Dickinson county.
Parents: Daniel Clash
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Sunday, December 7, 1941
Death details: Killed at Pearl Harbor
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Escanaba Daily Press (1942)