Promote & Preserve stories of U.S. fallen soldiers/sailors
Andre Devon Jr Mcnair, age 20, from Fort Pierce, Florida
Service era: Iraq
Military history: Company B, 96Th Aviation Support Battalion, 101St Avn Bde, Fort Campbell, Kentucky
Date of death: Thursday, June 5, 2008
Death details: Kandahar Army Airfield, Afghanistan
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times
Adam Paulson Snyder, age 26, from Fort Pierce, Florida.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: Hhc, 1St Battalion, 327Th Infantry, 1 Bct, Fort Campbell, Ky
Date of death: Wednesday, December 5, 2007
Death details: Hostile; Tikrit, Iraq
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times
Henry James Sims, age 28, from Fort Pierce, Florida, Saint Lucie county.
Parents: John A. Sims
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Thursday, December 31, 1970
Death details: Killed in Vietnam by a bullet wounds
Source: National Archives, Saint Lucie New Tribune, Associated Press (1970)
Pondextuer E. Williams, age 20, from Fort Pierce, Florida, Saint Lucie county.
Service era: Vietnam
Schools: Dan McCarty High graduate
Date of death: Saturday, August 8, 1970
Death details: Killed during a mortar attack in Vietnam
Source: National Archives, Palm Beach Post (1970)
Ardie Ray Copas, age 19, from Fort Pierce, Florida, Saint Lucie county.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Tuesday, May 12, 1970
Death details: Killed during combat operations near Ph Romeas Hek, Cambodia
Source: National Archives, Fox News, Associated Press (1970)
Pastor Francisco Ruiz from Fort Pierce, Florida, Saint Lucie county.
Parents: Fabian Ruiz
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Monday, February 16, 1970
Death details: Killed in action
Source: National Archives, Florida Today (1970), Fort Worth Star Telegram (1970)
Woodrow Wilson Wetherington, age 25, from Fort Pierce, Florida, Saint Lucie county.
Spouse: Woodrow W. Wetherington
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Saturday, November 20, 1943
Death details: From November 20 through 23, 1943, the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Navy conducted a large-scale amphibious assault on the Japanese-held atoll of Tarawa as part of Operation Galvanic, the Allied capture of the Gilbert Islands. Located 2,500 miles southwest of Hawaii, Tarawa was a crucial stepping stone in the planned U.S. offensive across the central Pacific toward Japan. The Japanese garrison on Tarawa’s main island of Betio was well-entrenched with hundreds of bunkers and gun positions behind formidable beach obstacles. The first wave of Marines approaching the shore encountered lower-than-expected tides, forcing them to leave their landing craft on the reef and wade the hundreds of yards to the beach under intense enemy fire. The heaviest number of U.S. casualties were suffered during this phase of the landing. Eventually, rising tides allowed U.S. warships to maneuver closer to shore and support the troops with effective naval gunfire. More Marines landed on the second day, launching attacks inland from the beaches and seizing the Japanese airfield on the island. However, the enemy launched vicious counterattacks and two more days of intense fighting were needed to secure Betio. The last enemy strongpoints were taken on the morning of November 23. The fighting on Betio cost the Marines nearly 3,000 casualties but enabled U.S. forces to press further across the Pacific and yielded valuable tactical lessons that reduced U.S. losses in future amphibious landings. Private Woodrow Wilson Wetherington entered the U.S. Marine Corps from Florida and served with Company H, 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division. He was killed in action during the Battle of Tarawa on November 20, 1943, and buried in Cemetery #33 on Betio, but after the war his remains were not identified among those recovered from the Betio burial sites. He is still unaccounted-for. Today, Private Wetherington is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency