Hancock County West Virginia

Snider, Hughie Franklin
Army Specialist 4

Hughie Franklin Snider, age 20, from New Cumberland, West Virginia, Hancock county.

Spouse: Susan D. Snider

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: Tuesday, April 28, 1970
Death details: Specialist Four (SP4) Hughie Franklin Snider, who joined the U.S. Army from West Virginia, was a member of Headquarters Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 77th Armor, 1st Brigade, 5th Infantry Division (Mechanized). On April 28, 1970, he was taking a swim break in the ocean with his unit in Quang Tri Province, Republic of (South) Vietnam, when the undertow became treacherous and carried SP4 Snider out to sea. His comrades attempted to keep him afloat, but were unsuccessful. Helicopters, a U.S. Navy Destroyer and local fishermen searched for SP4 Snider but found no sign of him after he disappeared under the water. His remains were never recovered, and he is still unaccounted for. Today, SP4 Snider is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. Based on all information available, DPAA assessed the individual’s case to be in the analytical category of Non-recoverable.

Source: National Archives, Weirton Daily Times (1970), Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

McNicol, Gary Douglas
Army Specialist 4

Gary Douglas McNicol, age 20, from Newell, West Virginia, Hancock county.

Parents: George W. McNicol

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: Thursday, March 12, 1970
Death details: Non-hostile death in Vietnam

Source: National Archives, UPI (1970)

Jennings, John Charles
Army Private

John Charles Jennings, age 18, from Newell, West Virginia, Hancock county.

Parents: Donald W. Jennings

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)

Lewis, Willie Encil
Navy Fireman

Willie Encil Lewis from West Virginia, Hancock county.

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Sunday, March 2, 1952
Death details: On March 2, 1952, a Landing Craft Personnel, Large (LCPL) departed the USS Chittenden County (LST-561) in the Yellow Sea off the western coast of North Korea. The LCPL was carrying nine U.S. service members and three Allied service members on a reconnaissance mission to investigate a small island near the 38th Parallel. While heading toward the mission area, the surf became too rough and the LCPL turned back, but it never returned to the Chittenden County. There were no reported communications following the landing craft’s withdrawal from the mission area. Three to four days later, clothing and pieces of the LCPL were found and the discovery of this floating debris led the U.S. Navy to determine that the crew was lost in the location of the island of Yonp’yong Do, where enemy guerrillas had been active on March 2. Of the nine U.S. service members on board, the body of one U.S. Army officer washed ashore on a small island off the west coast of the Korean peninsula and was recovered; however, the eleven others on board were not found. Fireman Willis Encil Lewis entered the U.S. Navy from West Virginia and served aboard the Chittenden County. He was a crew member aboard this LCPL when it went missing and was lost with the vessel. He remains unaccounted for. Today, Fireman Lewis is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. Based on all information available, DPAA assessed the individual’s case to be in the analytical category of Non-recoverable.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Horrigan, Richard W.
Army 1st lieutenant

Richard W. Horrigan from West Virginia, Hancock county.

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Thursday, April 19, 1945
Death details: First Lieutenant Horrigan entered the U.S. Army Air Forces from West Virginia and served in the 22nd Fighter Squadron, 36th Fighter Group. 1LT Horrigan went missing on April 19, 1945, during an armed reconnaissance mission to Alt Lönnewitz Airfield, Germany. He was flying a P-47 Thunderbolt (serial number 42-25956) at the time. 1LT Horrigan joined several other pilots in strafing the airfield. His aircraft crashed during this action, likely due to anti-aircraft fire. His remains could not be recovered following his loss. In 2004, a Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) investigation team, in conjunction with third party researchers, investigated this incident and located a P-47 crash site at the Alt Lönnewitz Airfield. In March 2017, a Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) investigation team returned to the area. Interviews with the local administration and research into cemetery records confirmed that there was no information about the burial of any pilots recovered from wreckage in the area, suggesting that 1LT Horrigan’s remains had not been removed from the wreckage. In June 2019, DPAA contracted History Flight, Inc. to excavate the crash site. The excavation team recovered aircraft wreckage and possible human remains. In August 2019, the remains recovered from the crash site near the Alt Lönnewitz Airfield were accessioned into the DPAA identification laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska for study. The laboratory analysis and the totality of the circumstantial evidence available established an association between the remains and 1LT Horrigan.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Loncar, Michael
Army Private 1st class

Michael Loncar from West Virginia, Hancock county.

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Wednesday, November 8, 1944
Death details: The Battle of the Hürtgen Forest, one of the bloodiest conflicts of World War II, was fought between Allied and German forces from September 1944 to February 1945. As U.S. forces advanced eastward into Germany, the defending Germans manned “Siegfried Line” positions opposite the Belgian border. The battle grew to involve approximately 200,000 troops, with tens of thousands of casualties on both sides. American forces initially entered the area seeking to block German reinforcements from moving north toward the fighting around Aachen, the westernmost city of Germany, near the borders with Belgium and the Netherlands. In the battle’s second phase and as part of the Allied’s larger offense toward the Rhine River, U.S. troops attempted to push through the forest to the banks of Roer River. Aided by bad weather and rough terrain, German forces in the Hürtgen Forest put up unexpectedly strong resistance due to a well-prepared defense. American forces were unable to break through to the Rur before the German Ardennes offensive struck in December 1944, known as the Battle of the Bulge, which halted the eastward Allied advance until February 1945. Private First Class Michael Loncar, who joined the U.S. Army in West Virginia, served with Company A, 112th Infantry Regiment, 28th Infantry Division. He was killed in action on November 8, 1944, when German forces drove U.S. troops out of the town of Kommerscheidt, Germany. His fellow soldiers did not see him after the withdrawal from the town. American Graves Registration Command personnel surveyed the area around the Hürtgen Forest during the early 1950s and recovered and identified some remains of American soldiers. However, large sections of the forest remained heavily mined, curtailing the search in many areas. Private First Class Loncar’s remains have not been identified among those recovered. Today, Private First Class Loncar is memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing at the Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery in Hombourg, Belgium.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Sitarz, John J.
Army Private 1st class

John J. Sitarz from West Virginia, Hancock county.

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Thursday, November 2, 1944
Death details: On May 27, 2020, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Private First Class John J. Sitarz, missing from World War II. Private First Class Sitarz entered the U.S. Army from West Virginia and served in Company L, 110th Infantry Regiment, 28th Infantry Division. On November 2, 1944, he was wounded when he stepped on a landmine near Germeter, Germany, during the Battle of Hurtgen Forest. Members of his unit were unable to reach him and he was reported missing. He did not survive this action, and his remains were not recovered at the time. Remains reportedly recovered from a minefield near Germeter were exhumed in 2018, and brought to the DPAA Laboratory where scientists used circumstantial evidence and laboratory analysis and determined that the soldier had been killed by multiple gunshot wounds to the head. DPAA eventually identified the remains as those of PFC Sitarz.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

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