Promote & Preserve stories of U.S. fallen soldiers/sailors
Jason N. Barfield, age 22, from Ashford, Alabama, Houston county.
Service era: Afghanistan
Military history: 3rd Combat Engineer Battalion, 1st Marine Division, I Marine Expeditionary Force, based at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center Twentynine Palms, California.
Date of death: Monday, October 24, 2011
Death details: Died while conducting combat operations in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times
Robert Charles Jr Scheetz, age 31, from Dothan, Alabama, Houston county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: Hhc, 1St Battalion, 6Th Infantry Regiment, Apo Ae 09034
Date of death: Monday, May 31, 2004
Death details: Hostile; Baghdad, Iraq
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times
Leonard W. Walker, age 22, from Houston County Dothan, Alabama .
Service era: Beirut bombings
Date of death: Sunday, October 23, 1983
Death details: Among more than 200 military personnel killed in the terroist bombing of Marine headquarters in Beirut.
Cemetery: Dothan City
Source: White House Commission on Remembrance, findagrave.com
Robert Thomas Wilson, age 24, from Dothan, Alabama, Houston county.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Friday, October 16, 1970
Source: National Archives
Joseph Thomas Roberson, age 26, from Columbia, Alabama, Houston county.
Spouse: Gloria J. Roberson
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Monday, April 27, 1970
Source: National Archives, Anniston Star (1970)
Raymond Earl Ott, age 21, from Dothan, Alabama, Houston county.
Parents: Arthur L. Ott
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Monday, March 23, 1970
Source: National Archives, Montgomery Advertiser (1970)
Donald Dawson Burnham from Webb, Alabama, Houston county.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Friday, February 2, 1968
Death details: On February 2, 1968, a UH-1H Iroquois (tail number 66-16442) carrying three passengers and two crew members was making a ground radar controlled approach to Da Nang Air Base when the ground controller suddenly and unexpectedly lost radio and radar contact with the aircraft. The entire crew was lost along with the helicopter. Several months later in May 1968, the aircraft was discovered to have crashed in a heavily-wooded gully with dense underbrush. Some remains were recovered but could not be identified as any of the crew members. Subsequent efforts to locate the crew’s remains have been unsuccessful.
Captain Donald Dawson Burnham entered the U.S. Army from Alabama and served in Troop B, 1st Squadron, 9th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. He was the pilot of the helicopter when it crashed on February 2, 1968, and his remains were not recovered. Following the incident, the Army promoted CPT Burnham to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel (LTC). Today, Lieutenant Colonel Burnham is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Rossell Boyd, age 25, from Dothan, Alabama, Houston county.
Parents: C.H. Boyd
Spouse: Married
Service era: Korea
Military history: His brother was killed at Pearl Harbor aboard the USS Arizona.
Date of death: Thursday, May 27, 1954
Death details: Died in an explosion aboard the USS Bennington.
Source: Dothan Eagle (1954)
John Jacob Williams from Alabama, Houston county.
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Sunday, September 3, 1950
Death details: On September 3, 1950, the 8th Cavalry Regiment and the 2nd Engineer Battalion, both elements of the 1st Cavalry Division, were holding a defensive line between Tabu-dong and Taegu at the upper end of the Naktong Perimeter. Company F of the 8th Cavalry, defending Hill 448, was attacked by elements of North Korea’s 13th Infantry Division and forced to retreat to Hill 449, defended by Company G of the 8th Cavalry. The 8th Cavalry Regiment found itself cut off from its supply train and withdrew from the area to keep from being surrounded by the enemy. Upon reaching the village of Tabu-dong, members of Companies D and E of the 8th Cavalry became involved in hut-to-hut fighting before they could retreat. Meanwhile, elements of the 2nd Engineer Battalion, which had been ordered to take and hold Hill 755, were also forced to withdraw. United States forces did not re-take this territory until September 21, 1950. Corporal John Jacob Williams, who joined the U.S. Army from Alabama, served with F Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. He went missing on September 3, 1950, during his unit’s retreat to Hill 449. His fellow soldiers did not see him fall, and he was not listed as a prisoner of war. When U.S. forces gained control of the area on September 21, CPL Williams’ was not found, and he remains unaccounted-for. Today, Corporal Williams is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
James Ottis Whitehurst, age 20, from Ashford, Alabama, Houston county.
Parents: Benjamin E. Whitehurst
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Saturday, November 20, 1943
Death details: On August 11, 2016, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Private First Class James Ottis Whitehurst, missing from World War II. Private First Class Whitehurst entered the U.S. Marine Corps from Alabama and served with Company E, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division. He was killed in action on November 20, 1943, during the assault on the Japanese-controlled Betio Island of Tarawa Atoll, Gilbert Islands; however, his remains were not recovered at the time. In 2015, History Flight, Inc. unearthed a burial trench on Betio Island and recovered the remains of U.S. Marines who fought during this battle; the remains were turned over to DPAA and advanced forensic techniques allowed for the identification of PFC Whitehurst from among them.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency