Trevor Jon Yurista, age 32, from Pleasant Valley, New York, Dutchess county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: Hq Co, 5Th Mar, (2D Bn, 7Th Mar), 1St Mar Div, Camp Pendleton, Ca
Date of death: Monday, October 27, 2008
Death details: Hostile; Helmand Province, Afghanistan
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times
Mark Charles Palmateer, age 38, from Poughkeepsie, New York, Dutchess county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: Troop B, 2D Squadron, 101St Cavalry, Jamestown, Ny
Date of death: Thursday, June 26, 2008
Death details: Hostile; Vicinity Of Fob Shank, Afghanistan
Source: Department of Defense, Legacy
Eric A. Hamm from Fishkill, New York, Dutchess county.
Service era: Gulf War
Date of death: Friday, October 14, 1994
Death details: Killed when A-6E “”Intruder”” from VA-115 crashed during a low level training route over Yoshinogawa River on the island of Shikoku, Japan
Cemetery: Saint Joachim’s in Beacon, New York
Source: U.S. Navy, Poughkeepsie Journal (1994)
Theodore L. Cadenhead, age 22, from Pleasant Valley, New York, Dutchess county.
Parents: Charles and Pearl (Parks) Cadenhead
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Tuesday, March 10, 1970
Death details: Non-hostile, South Vietnam
Source: National Archives, Poughkeepsie Journal (1970)
John Jay Bennett, age 48, from Beacon, New York, Dutchess county.
Parents: Kenneth L. Bennett
Spouse: Kathleen
Service era: Vietnam
Schools: Beacon High (164, New York State Maritime Academy and Lowell Technical Institute
Military history: 43rd Signal Battallion, Signal Corps
Date of death: Monday, March 2, 1970
Death details: Killed by an explosion after entering a building that reportedly was cleared in Vietnam.
Source: National Archives, Poughkeepsie Journal (1970)
William Alfred Shaffer, age 22, from New York, Dutchess county.
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Monday, April 23, 1951
Death details: On April 22, 1951, elements of the 24th Infantry Division along with the 5th Regimental Combat Team (RCT) were dug into positions near Seoul, South Korea, where the Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) had regrouped and begun a large-scale effort to penetrate the valley areas east of Seoul. Just prior to the main CCF offensive, the 5th RCT was executing part of a blocking action known as Operation Dauntless, in which its 1st and 2nd Battalions launched an attack against CCF forces in the Chorwon Valley to the north. They pushed the enemy out of the area and set up defensive positions, but the CCF soon regrouped and returned with a massive counterattack. While this assault was repelled, heavy pressure over the next eight days forced the 24th Infantry Division, along with the 5th RCT, to gradually fall back to stronger positions. The U.S. units suffered heavy casualties over the course of the fighting and withdrawal. Private First Class William Alfred Shaffer, who joined the U.S. Army from New York, served with H Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Infantry Regiment (a component of the 5th Regimental Combat Team), 24th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on April 23, 1951, near the village of Udam-jang, South Korea. After the war, former prisoners of war reported that PFC Shaffer had been captured and was last seen at the Suan POW Camp in North Korea; however, his remains have not been identified among those returned to U.S. custody. Today, Private First Class Shaffer is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Walter A. Guion from New York, Dutchess county.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Saturday, December 2, 1944
Death details: Finding of death
Cemetery: Zachary Taylor National
Source: National Archives, grave marker
James Bernard Johnson, age 19, from Poughkeepsie, New York, Dutchess county.
Parents: Vear Johnson
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Saturday, November 20, 1943
Death details: On April 18, 2016, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Private First Class James Bernard Johnson, missing from World War II. Private First Class Johnson, who joined the U.S. Marine Corps from New York, was a member of Company K, 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division. He was killed in action on November 20, 1943, during the assault on the Japanese-controlled Betio Island of Tarawa Atoll, Gilbert Islands, and his remains were not recovered at the time. In 2015, the non-governmental organization History Flight, in partnership with DPAA, excavated a burial site on Betio Island and recovered remains of U.S. Marines who fought during the battle in November 1943, and advances in forensic techniques led to the identification of PFC Johnson from among these remains.
Cemetery: Arlington National (buried May 31, 2016)
Source: National Archives, Department of Defense, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
John J. Gusmano from New York, Dutchess county.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Tuesday, July 28, 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. Private First Class John J. Gusmano entered the U.S. Army from New York and served with the 808th Military Police Company in the Philippines during World War II. He was captured in Bataan following the American surrender on April 9, 1942, and died of malaria and dysentery on July 28, 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, Private First Class Gusmano is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Patrick J. Obrien from New York, Dutchess county.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Thursday, July 9, 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. Staff Sergeant Patrick J. O’Brien entered the U.S. Army from New York and served in the Quartermaster Corps 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 9, 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, Staff Sergeant O’Brien is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency