Promote & Preserve stories of U.S. fallen soldiers/sailors
Jeremy Edward Depottey, age 26, from Ironwood, Michigan, Gogebic county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: Company A, 1St Battalion, 32D Infantry, Fort Drum, Ny
Date of death: Monday, September 11, 2006
Death details: Asadabad, Afghanistan
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times
Regnold Joseph LaCost, age 20, from Ironwood, Michigan, Gogebic county.
Parents: Albert J. Durham
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Tuesday, June 23, 1970
Death details: Hostile, killed, South Vietnam
Cemetery: New Garden
Source: National Archives, Escanaba Daily Press (1970)
Gordon E. Maccani, age 26, from Gogebic County Michigan.
Parents: Angelo Maccani
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Tuesday, January 9, 1945
Death details: On December 13, 1944, Japanese forces in the Philippines began the transfer of 1,621 Allied prisoners of war (POWs) to Japan. The POWs were to make the journey aboard transport ships whose harsh conditions and extreme overcrowding led survivors to refer to them as “Hell Ships.” The ships also lacked markings that would distinguish them from any other military target, causing some of them to be attacked by Allied forces who could not identify them as POW transports. On December 14, 1944, Allied aircraft attacked the first ship, the Oryoku Maru, in Subic Bay in the Philippines, killing many Allied POWs who became lost in the water, sank with the ship, or were washed ashore. Survivors of the bombing were put aboard two other ships, the Enoura Maru and the Brazil Maru, to continue on to Japan. During the journey, while anchored in Takao Harbor, Formosa (present-day Taiwan), the Enoura Maru was attacked by Allied aircraft from the USS Hornet (CV-8), killing Allied POWs who were lost in the water, on board the ship, or on the nearby shore. Survivors of the Enoura Maru bombing were loaded onto the Brazil Maru, and reached Japan on January 30, 1945. As a result of these incidents, Allied POWs were lost in the Philippines, at sea between the Philippines and Taiwan, while anchored in Taiwan, at sea between Taiwan and Japan, and in Japan. The attacks on these POW transports ultimately resulted in a series of death notifications from the Japanese government through the International Red Cross (IRC), and some casualties were given up to five different dates of death at various locations during the transfer. Witness accounts from surviving POWs offer detailed information for a handful of casualties, but the specific dates of loss and/or last-known locations for many of these POWs are based on the most recent reported date of death. Second Lieutenant Gordon E. Maccani, who joined the U.S. Army Air Forces from Michigan, served with the 16th Bombardment Squadron, 27th Bombardment Group (Light), in the Philippines during World War II. He was taken as a POW following the Japanese invasion and was interned in the islands until December 1944, when he was put aboard the Oryoku Maru for transport to Japan. Records indicate 2LT Maccani was killed several weeks later in the attack on the Enoura Maru; however, these reports often involve information solely furnished by enemy governments, with some casualties given multiple dates of death. Future research may determine that these reports were inaccurate. His remains were not recovered or identified following the war, and he is still unaccounted-for. Today, Second Lieutenant Maccani is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Escanaba Daily Press (1945)
Thomas E. Heikkila, age 29, from Michigan, Gogebic county.
Service era: World War II
Military history: Infantry
Date of death: Thursday, September 28, 1944
Death details: Died of wounds
Cemetery: New Albany National
Source: National Archives, grave marker
Richard H. Jr. Johnson from Michigan, Gogebic county.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Thursday, July 23, 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 Richard H. Johnson Jr. joined the U.S. Army from Ohio and was a member of the 803rd Engineer Battalion, which was stationed in the Philippines during the fall of Bataan. Following the Allied surrender, he was captured and eventually interned at the Cabanatuan Prison Camp in Nueva Ecija Province, where he died of dysentery and cerebral malaria on July 23, 1942. 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 Johnson is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Walter J. Kellett from Michigan, Gogebic county.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Sunday, July 19, 1942
Death details: On July 23, 2019, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Corporal Walter J. Kellett, missing from World War II. Corporal Kellett entered the U.S. Army Air Forces from Michigan and served in the 17th Pursuit Squadron, 24th Pursuit Group in the Philippines. CPL Kellet was captured following the fall of Bataan and he was interned at the Cabanatuan Prisoner of War Camp. CPL Kellet died of malaria and malnutrition at Cabanatuan on or about July 19, 1942, and he was buried in a grave along with other prisoners who died on the same date. His remains were recovered from the camp after the war, but they could not be individually identified at the time and were buried as unknowns at the Manila American Cemetery. In 2018, twenty-three unidentified sets of remains associated with a communal grave at Cabanatuan were disinterred from the Manila American Cemetery and brought to the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory, Delaware, where scientists used modern forensic techniques and circumstantial evidence to individually identify CPL Kellett.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Kenneth Francis Laessig from Michigan, Gogebic county.
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Unknown
Death details: On July 11, 1950, the U.S. Army’s 21st Infantry Regiment, which had arrived in Korea six days earlier, was placed in defensive positions near the town of Chochiwon, South Korea. The regiment was not at full strength and lacked artillery and anti-tank weapons. That day, they were attacked by North Korean forces and were forced to withdraw to avoid being surrounded, as well as to buy time until they could be reinforced and resupplied. Private First Class Kenneth Francis Laessig, who joined the U.S. Army from Michigan, served with I Company, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was captured by enemy forces on July 12, as his unit fought a series of delaying actions between Pyongtaek and Chochiwon. He was forced to march to the Apex prison camps in North Korea, and died of malnutrition and exhaustion on an unspecified date in November at Hanjang-ni. He was buried nearby; however, his remains were not identified among those returned to U.S. custody after the ceasefire. Today, Private First Class Laessig is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency