Grafton County New Hampshire

Decoteau, Marc P.
Army Specialist

Marc P. Decoteau, age 19, from Waterville Valley, New Hampshire, Grafton county.

Parents: Mark Decoteau and Nancy Decoteau
Spouse: None
Children: None

Service era: Afghanistan
Schools: Plymouth Regional High (2008)
Military history: 6th Psychological Operation Battalion (Airborne), 4th Psychological Operations Group (Airborne), Fort Bragg, North Carolina. Enlisted in 2008.

Date of death: Friday, January 29, 2010
Death details: Died in Wardak Province, Afghanistan of injuries sustained Died in Wardak Province, Afghanistan of injuries sustained when an Afghan interpreter shot him and also killed David J. Thompson of Oklahoma. The interpreter was arguing about his quality of work.
Cemetery: Waterville Valley

Source: Department of Defense, Foster Daily Democrat, New Hampshire Union Leader, Concord Monitor, The Citizen of Laconia; The Pilot of Southern Pines, North Carolina., Military Times

Dicenzo, Douglas Andrew
Army Captain

Douglas Andrew Dicenzo, age 30, from Plymouth, New Hampshire, Grafton county.

Service era: Iraq
Schools: Plymouth Regional High (1995); U.S. Military Academy at West Point
Military history: Company C, 2D Battalion, 6Th Infantry, 2D Bct, 1St Ad (4 Id) Baumholder, Gm

Date of death: Thursday, May 25, 2006
Death details: Hostile; Baghdad, Iraq

Source: Department of Defense, Captain Douglas DiCenzo Camp Fund, Military Times

Hesseltine, Herbert Asa
Army Corporal

Herbert Asa Hesseltine, age 19, from Grafton County New Hampshire.

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Wednesday, January 31, 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 Herbert Asa Hesseltine Jr., who joined the U.S. Army from New Hampshire, served with Headquarters Battery, 38th Field Artillery Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division. He was taken prisoner of war during his unit’s fighting withdrawal from Kunu-ri to Sunchon, North Korea. After his capture, he was marched to a temporary holding camp in the Pukchin-Tarigol Valley where he died of malnutrition on or before January 31, 1951. His remains were not recovered at the time, and he has not been identified among those returned to U.S. custody after the war. Today, Sergeant Hesseltine 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

Packard, Henry H.
Army Sergeant

Henry H. Packard from New Hampshire, Grafton county.

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Thursday, September 17, 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. Sergeant Henry H. Packard joined the U.S. Army from New Hampshire and was a member of the 803rd Engineers Battalion 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 September 17, 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, Sergeant Packard is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.

Source: National ArchivesDefense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Nourse, Jonas E.
Army Private

Jonas E. Nourse from New Hampshire, Grafton county.

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Monday, July 27, 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 Jonas E. Nourse joined the U.S. Army Air Forces from New Hampshire and served with the 48th Material Squadron 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 cellulitis on July 27, 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 of those recovered from Cabanatuan after the war. Today, Second Lieutenant Nourse 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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