Promote & Preserve stories of U.S. fallen soldiers/sailors
Bacilio Emilio Cuellar, age 24, from Odessa, Texas, Ector county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: Company C, 1St Battalion, 18Th Infantry, Schweinfurt, Gm
Date of death: Wednesday, May 30, 2007
Death details: Hostile; Baghdad, Iraq
Source: Department of Defense
Kristopher Allan Higdon, age 25, from Odessa, Texas, Ector county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: Company B, 4Th Battalion, 9Th Infantry, Fort Lewis, Washington
Date of death: Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Death details: Died in Taji, Iraq of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his unit
Cemetery: Central Texas State Veterans Cemetery, Kileen, Texas
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times, findagrave.com, Legacy
Damian James Garza, age 19, from Odessa, Texas, Ector county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: Hhc, 3D Battalion, 75Th Ranger Regiment, Fort Benning, Ga
Date of death: Thursday, August 4, 2005
Death details: Jalalabad, Afghanistan
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times
Daniel Ray Amaya, age 22, from Odessa, Texas, Ector county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: K Co, 3D Bn, 4Th Mar, Rct-1, 1St Mar Div, Twentynine Palms, California
Date of death: Sunday, April 11, 2004
Death details: killed April 11 by hostile gunfire in Anbar province, Iraq.
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times
Greg Douglas Stevenson, age 21, from Odessa, Texas, Ector county.
Parents: Clarence E. Stevenson
Spouse: Carolyn Rehders (married June 10, 1967)
Service era: Vietnam
Schools: Permian High (1966)
Date of death: Friday, July 24, 1970
Death details: Non-hostile, Vietnam
Cemetery: Sunset Memorial Gardens
Source: National Archives, Odessa American (1970)
Carl Joseph Ellerd from Odessa, Texas, Ector county.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Thursday, October 2, 1969
Death details: On October 2, 1969, a C-2A Greyhound (bureau number 152796) carrying five crew members and twenty passengers took off on a routine logistics support flight from Cubi Point Naval Station, Republic of the Philippines, to the USS Constellation (CVA 64) in the Gulf of Tonkin. En route, the aircraft was in radio and radar contact with the carrier when it suddenly disappeared from the radar. There were no distress calls or beepers heard. An extensive air and surface search was begun immediately and recovered some personal effects and aircraft debris, but no survivors. Eventually, a crash site was discovered off the coast of North Vietnam, however, no remains were recovered.
Aviation Structural Mechanic Second Class Carl Joseph Ellerd, who joined the U.S. Navy from Texas, served with Attack Squadron 97 aboard the Constellation. He was aboard the Greyhound when it crashed, and his remains have not been recovered. Today, Aviation Structural Mechanic Second Class Ellerd is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Based on all information available, DPAA assessed the individual’s case to be in the analytical category of Non-recoverable.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency