Promote & Preserve stories of U.S. fallen soldiers/sailors
Joseph Michael Hernandez, age 24, from Hammond, Indiana, Lake county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: Company C, 1St Bn, 4Th Infantry, Hohenfels, Germany
Date of death: Friday, January 9, 2009
Death details: Hostile; Fob Lagman, Afghanistan
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times
Jonathan Rojas, age 27, from Hammond, Indiana, Lake county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: Company B, 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry, 172nd Sbct, Fort Wainwright, Ak
Date of death: Tuesday, October 3, 2006
Death details: Hostile; Baghdad, Iraq
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times
Duane Roy Rios, age 25, from Hammond, Indiana, Lake county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: 1St Ceb, 1St Mardiv, Camp Pendleton, California
Date of death: Friday, April 4, 2003
Death details: Hostile; , Iraq
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times
Ira Eugene Gibbs, age 20, from Hammond, Indiana, Lake county.
Parents: Ellen Gibbs
Service era: Vietnam
Schools: Hammond Technical Vocational High (1969)
Date of death: Thursday, December 31, 1970
Death details: Killed in South Vietnam when a booby trap exploded
Source: National Archives, Munster Times, Associated Press (1970)
Steven Craig Willis from Hammond, Indiana, Lake county.
Parents: Eugene Willis
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Saturday, December 5, 1970
Death details: Hostile, missing in South Vietnam
Source: National Archives, Munster Times, Associated Press (1970)
Furman David Hughes, age 20, from Hammond, Indiana, Lake county.
Parents: John E. Hughes
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Thursday, August 20, 1970
Death details: Hostile in South Vietnam
Source: National Archives, UPI (1970)
Michael John Dickus, age 19, from Hammond, Indiana, Lake county.
Spouse: Chesterine A. Dickus
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Saturday, July 18, 1970
Death details: Hostile, wounded in South Vietnam
Source: National Archives, Assocaited Press (1970), Munster Times (1970)
John Michael Chappey, age 20, from Hammond, Indiana, Lake county.
Parents: John A. Chappey
Spouse: Barbara Chappey
Service era: Vietnam
Schools: Bishop Noll Institute (1967)
Military history: Company B, 1st Battalion 5th Infantry, 25th Infantry Division
Date of death: Wednesday, March 11, 1970
Death details: Hostile, killed in an explosion in South Vietnam
Source: National Archives, Munster Times (1970)
Walter A. Reinhardt from Hammond, Indiana, Lake county.
Spouse: Minnette E. Reinhardt
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Friday, March 16, 1962
Death details: Among 93 soldiers aboard a transport plane on a “secret mission” to Vietnam. Wreaths Across America in 2021: “Very little is known about what happened to the plane and its passengers, and due to the circumstance surrounding this mission, the names of those lost have not yet been added to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C.”
Cemetery: A memorial honoring the lives lost was dedicated in 2021 in Columbia Falls, Maine
Source: Atlanta Counstitution (1962), MauiNow (2021), UPI (1962)
Charles J. Miller, age 27, from Lake County Hammond, Indiana .
Parents: Alexander J. Miller
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Sunday, November 15, 1942
Death details: Killed when the plane in which he was riding crashed after missing its landing field at Columbia, South Carolina.
Cemetery: Saint Joseph
Source: National Archives, The State (1942), The Times (1942)