Gallatin County Montana

Montgomery, Thaddeus S.
Army Staff sergeant

Thaddeus S. Montgomery, age 29, from West Yellowstone, Montana, Gallatin county.

Parents: Thaddeus S. Montgomery Sr., Debra Hays
Children: Thaddeus Montgomery III

Service era: Afghanistan
Military history: 2nd Battalion, 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colorado. Enlisted March 2003.

Date of death: Wednesday, January 20, 2010
Death details: Died at Lorengal Outpost, Afghanistan of injuries sustained from a non-combat related incident.Enlisted March 2003
Cemetery: Arlington National Cemetery

Source: Department of Defense, KRDO, WHNT, Bozeman Daily Chronicle, Military Times

Atkins, Travis William
Army Staff Sergeant

Travis William Atkins, age 31, from Bozeman, Montana, Gallatin county.

Service era: Iraq
Military history: Company D, 2D Battalion, 14Th Infantry, Fort Drum, New York; Medal of Honor

Date of death: Friday, June 1, 2007
Death details: Hostile; Sadr Al Yusufiyah, Iraq; The President of the United States of America, in the name of Congress, takes pride in presenting the Medal of Honor (Posthumously) to Staff Sergeant Travis William Atkins, United States Army. Staff Sergeant Atkins distinguished himself by conspicuous acts of gallantry and intrepidity at the risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty on 1 June, 2007, while serving as a Squad Leader with Delta Company, 2nd Battalion, 14th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. While manning a static observation post in the town of Abu Samak, Iraq, Staff Sergeant Atkins was notified that four suspicious individuals, walking in two pairs, were crossing an intersection not far from his position. Staff Sergeant Atkins immediately moved his squad to interdict them. One of the individuals began behaving erratically, prompting Staff Sergeant Atkins to disembark from his patrol vehicle and approach to conduct a search. Both individuals responded belligerently toward Staff Sergeant Atkins, who then engaged the individual he had intended to search in hand-to-hand combat. When he noticed the insurgent was reaching for something under his clothes, Staff Sergeant Atkins immediately wrapped him in a bear hug and threw him to the ground, away from his fellow soldiers. Maintaining his hold on the insurgent, he pinned him to the ground, further sheltering his patrol. The insurgent then detonated a bomb strapped to his body, killing Staff Sergeant Atkins. In this critical and selfless act of valor, Staff Sergeant Atkins acted with complete disregard for his own safety, saving the lives of the three soldiers who were with him and gallantly giving his life for his country. Staff Sergeant Atkins’s undaunted courage, warrior spirit, and steadfast devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of military service and reflect great credit upon himself, the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, and the United States Army.

Source: Department of Defense, Military Times

Komppa, Charles Victor
Navy Petty officer

Charles Victor Komppa, age 35, from Belgrade, Montana, Gallatin county.

Service era: Iraq
Military history: Nmcb Eighteen, Tacoma, Wa

Date of death: Wednesday, October 25, 2006
Death details: Hostile; Haditha, Iraq

Source: Department of Defense, Military Times

Arndt, Travis Mark
Army Sergeant

Travis Mark Arndt, age 23, from Bozeman, Montana, Gallatin county.

Service era: Iraq
Military history: Troop E, 163D Cavalry (Tf Liberty), Missoula, Mt

Date of death: Wednesday, September 21, 2005
Death details: Kirkuk, Iraq

Source: Department of Defense, Military Times

Bloem, Nicholas William Baart
Marines Lance corporal

Nicholas William Baart Bloem, age 20, from Belgrade, Montana, Gallatin county.

Parents: Al Bloem and Debbie

Service era: Iraq
Military history: B Co, 4Th Recon Bn, 4Th Mar Div, Billings, Mt

Date of death: Wednesday, August 3, 2005
Death details: Hostile; Barwanah, Iraq

Source: Department of Defense, Military Times

Brousseau, Philip Francis
Army Sergeant

Philip Francis Brousseau, age 20, from Gallatin County Montana.

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Wednesday, January 17, 1951
Death details: By mid-November 1950, U.S. and Allied forces had advanced to within approximately sixty miles of the Yalu River, the border between North Korea and China. On November 25, approximately 300,000 Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) “volunteers” suddenly and fiercely counterattacked after crossing the Yalu. The 2nd Infantry Division, located the farthest north of units at the Chongchon River, could not halt the CCF advance and was ordered to withdraw to defensive positions at Sunchon in the South Pyongan province of North Korea. As the division pulled back from Kunu-ri toward Sunchon, it conducted an intense rearguard action while fighting to break through well-defended roadblocks set up by CCF infiltrators. The withdrawal was not complete until December 1, and the 2nd Infantry Division suffered extremely heavy casualties in the process. Sergeant First Class Philip Francis Brousseau, who joined the U.S. Army from Montana, was a member of H Company, 2nd Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He was captured by the CCF during the withdrawal from Kunu-ri on November 11, 1950. He was marched to a holding point at the Pukchin-Tarigol Valley in North Korea, where he died of exhaustion and pneumonia on January 17, 1951. His remains have not been recovered, and he was not identified among the remains returned to U.S. custody after the war. Today, Sergeant First Class Brousseau is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. His name is also inscribed on the Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC, which was updated in 2022 to include the names of the fallen.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Williams, Edwin V.
Army Corporal

Edwin V. Williams, age 24, from Montana, Gallatin county.

Service era: World War II
Military history: Quartermaster Corps

Date of death: Saturday, July 4, 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 Edwin V. Williams joined the U.S. Army from Montana and served with the Quartermaster Detachment at Nichols Air Field in the Philippines during World War II. He was captured in Bataan following the American surrender on April 9, 1942, and died of dysentery and malaria on July 4, 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 Williams is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

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