William Wayne Crow Jr., age 28, from Findlay, Ohio, Hancock county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: Company A, 2D Battalion, 16Th Infantry, 4 Bct, Fort Riley, Ksansas
Date of death: Thursday, June 28, 2007
Death details: Hostile; Baghdad, Iraq
Source: Department of Defense, findagrave.com
James Alvin Gallant from Williamstown, Ohio, Hancock county.
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Tuesday, October 23, 1951
Death details: On October 23, 1951, a B-29A Superfortress (tail number 44-94045, call sign “Able 1”) departed Kadena Air Base, Japan, carrying thirteen crew members on a bombing mission targeting Namsi Air Field in northwest North Korea. “Able 1” flew as a part of a strike force that included ten B-29s with fighter support. As the formation approached the target, it was attacked by anti-aircraft artillery fire and MiG-15 fighters. Just after “Able 1” completed its bombing run, it was hit in the right wing fuel tank, causing an explosion with a large amount of smoke. The damaged aircraft was flying under control but was losing altitude, and it eventually crashed on a mud flat near the island of Sinmi-Do. Initial searches that continued until October 26, failed to locate the missing Superfortress or its crew. On October 29, a United Nations Partisan Infantry Korea (UNPIK) team discovered the aircraft’s wreckage along with the remains of the radio operator and navigator, but the increasing enemy activity and the rising tide in the area prevented further recovery efforts that day. Returning the next day, UNPIK discovered that one set of these remains had washed away. However, the team collected another body, which they removed for temporary burial on the island of Oesun-Do. In early November 1951, the remains of a third body that was believed to be the radar operator washed ashore on Ho-Do where it was buried by UNPIK forces. Attempts to locate the Oesun-Do an Ho-Do burial sites or recovery of any of the other missing crew remains from the crash site, have been unsuccessful following the war. Airman First Class James Alvin Gallant entered the U.S. Air Force from Ohio and was assigned to 371st Bombardment Squadron, 307th Bombardment Wing. He was the left gunner aboard this Superfortress when it crashed, and he did not survive the incident. No remains have been recovered that could be associated with A1 Gallant, and he is still unaccounted-for. Today, Airman First Class Gallant is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Rex Eugene Wagner, age 17, from Fostoria, Ohio, Hancock county.
Parents: Viola Wagner
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Thursday, November 2, 1950
Death details: On March 22, 2007, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC, now DPAA) identified the remains of Corporal Rex Eugene Wagner, missing from the Korean War. Corporal Wagner entered the U.S. Army from Ohio and served with Company L, 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. On November 2, 1950, members of Company L were occupying a defensive position near Unsan, North Korea, north of a bend in the Kuryong River known as the “Camel’s Head Bend.” That day, elements of the Chinese Communist Forces struck the 1st Cavalry Division’s lines, collapsing the perimeter and forcing a withdrawal. CPL Wagner did not survive this combat, though the exact details surrounding his loss are unknown. His body was not recovered at that time by U.S. forces. In 2002, a U.S. team excavated a grave south of Unsan where they recovered human remains associated with American forces lost near “Camel’s Head Bend,” and U.S. analysts identified CPL Wagner from these remains.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Chillicothe Gazette (1954)
Arthur Eugene Eisenbach from Findlay, Ohio, Hancock county.
Spouse: Mildred Eisenbach
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Monday, December 18, 1944
Death details: He was aboard the destroyer USS Hull as it operated as part of the Fast Carrier Strike Force in the Philippine Sea. On December 17, 1944, the Hull was participating in refueling operations when the ships of its fueling group were engulfed by Typhoon Cobra. The Hull lost its ability to steer amid the enormous waves and began taking on water. The Hull eventually took on too much water to stay afloat and rolled and sank shortly before noon, on December 18. Sixty-two crew members were rescued, but a little more than two-hundred crew members were lost in the sinking.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency