Promote & Preserve stories of U.S. fallen soldiers/sailors
James W. Speedy, age 30, from Cambridge, Ohio, Guernsey county.
Service era: Afghanistan
Military history: “Raging Bulls” of Medium Tiltrotor Squadron (VMM) 261 based at Marine Corps Air Station New River, North Carolina
Date of death: Friday, March 18, 2022
Death details: Among four Marines who died when their MV-22B Osprey crashed near the town of Bodo, Norway.
Source: Jacksonville Daily News, Assosiated Press
Donald Edward Chambers, age 21, from Kimbolten, Ohio, Guernsey county.
Parents: Homer and Monomia Rose Chambers
Service era: Vietnam
Schools: Madison High (1966)
Military history: 11th Battalion, Americal Division
Date of death: Thursday, April 2, 1970
Death details: Hostile, South Vietnam
Source: National Archives, Zanesville Times Reocrder (1970)
Major McKinley Harris from Ohio, Guernsey county.
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Thursday, November 2, 1950
Death details: During the last week of October 1950, Republic of Korea (ROK) Army forces under the control of the U.S. Eighth Army were advancing deep in North Korean territory, approaching the Yalu River on the Chinese-Korean border. Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) struck back in a surprise attack, engaging the ROK 1st and 6th Divisions near Unsan, some sixty miles north of Pyongyang. The U.S. 1st Cavalry Division, with the 8th Cavalry Regiment in the lead, was rushed forward to reinforce the ROK units in the Unsan area. On November 1, the regiment’s 1st Battalion took up positions north of Unsan, while the 2nd Battalion moved to guard the Nammyon River valley west of town, and the 3rd Battalion was placed in reserve at the valley’s southern end. Corporal Major McKinley Harris joined the U.S. Army from Ohio and was a member of the Medical Company of the 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. On November 2, 1950, members of the Medical Company were supporting other 8th Cavalry Regiment elements near Unsan when they received orders to withdraw. Corporal Harris was captured during the course of this moving battle. After spending several days in the local area, Corporal Harris was marched north with other prisoners from this action by night. By late November, groups of prisoners were collected at Sambakkol, a village near the Yalu River. Then in late January 1951, they were marched on to Camp 5, Pyoktong. Corporal Harris survived the journey to Camp 5 but was fatally weakened and died of malnutrition among his companions on or about June 16, 1951. He was buried by his fellow prisoners on a hillside overlooking the camp, however, his remains have not been among any returned to U.S. custody after the ceasefire. Today, Corporal Harris is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Donald Garrett Keller from Guernsey County Quaker City, Ohio .
Parents: Mildred Keller Floyd. Donald wrote his mother in November that he had his picture taken for her with a new uniform. They picture wasn’t sent to her before Dec. 7 and one year later she was featured in the Honolulu newspaper seeking that photograph.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Sunday, December 7, 1941
Death details: Killed aboard the USS Oklahoma. Accounted for January 17, 2018
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Honolulu Star Bulletin (1942)