Illinois

Bartelt, Justus S.
Marines Staff sergeant

Justus S. Bartelt, age 27, from Polo, Illinois, Ogle county.

Parents: Stepfather Kendall Kyker

Service era: Afghanistan
Schools: Polo High (2001)
Military history: 2nd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Enlisted June 2001

Date of death: Friday, July 16, 2010
Death details: Died while supporting combat operations in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.

Source: Department of Defense, Freeport Journal Standard, Military Times

Desilets, Benjamin David
Marines Corporal

Benjamin David Desilets, age 21, from Elmwood, Illinois, Peoria county.

Service era: Iraq
Military history: L Btry, 3D Bn, 10Th Mar, 2D Mar Div, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina

Date of death: Tuesday, May 22, 2007
Death details: Hostile; Al Zanti, Iraq
Cemetery: Fon du Lac Township Cemetery, East Peoria, Illinois

Source: Department of Defense, findagrave.com

Cuaresma, Sirlou Ciacho
Army Sergeant

Sirlou Ciacho Cuaresma, age 25, from Chicago, Illinois, Cook county.

Service era: Iraq
Military history: 68Th Engineer Company, Fort Hood, Texas

Date of death: Wednesday, June 21, 2006
Death details: Baghdad, Iraq

Source: Department of Defense, Military Times

Palmatier, Jacob Christopher
Army Corporal

Jacob Christopher Palmatier, age 29, from Springfield, Illinois, Sangamon county.

Service era: Iraq
Military history: Hhc, 1St Battalion, 30Th Infantry, (Tf Liberty), Fort Benning, Georgia

Date of death: Thursday, February 24, 2005
Death details: Hostile; Muqdadiyah, Iraq

Source: Department of Defense

Olson, John Thomas
Marines Corporal

John Thomas Olson, age 21, from Elk Grove, Illinois, Cook county.

Service era: Iraq
Military history: Hq Bn, (3D Bn, 8Th Mar, Rct-1, 1St Mar Div), 2D Mar Div, Camp Lejeune, Nc

Date of death: Monday, February 21, 2005
Death details: Hostile; Nassir Wa Al Salem, Iraq

Source: Department of Defense, Military Times

Widerquist, Thomas Carl
Air Force 1st lieutenant

Thomas Carl Widerquist, age 25, from Morton Grove, Illinois, Cook county.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: Wednesday, May 3, 1972
Death details: On June 12, 1974, the Central Identification Laboratory-Thailand (CILT, now DPAA) identified the remains of First Lieutenant Thomas Carl Widerquist, missing from the Vietnam War. First Lieutenant Widerquist joined the U.S. Air Force from Illinois and was a member of the 345th Tactical Airlift Squadron, 374th Tactical Airlift Wing. On May 3, 1972, he was a crew member aboard a C-130E Hercules that took off on a resupply mission near An Loc, South Vietnam. The aircraft was shot down during the mission, and 1st Lt Widerquist was killed in the incident. Once fighting in the area had stopped, search and rescue teams recovered the remains of most of the C-130E’s crew; however, 1st Lt Widerquist’s remains could not be individually identified until 1974.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, findagrave.com

Fivelson, Barry Frank
Army Warrant officer

Barry Frank Fivelson from Evanston, Illinois, Cook county.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: Monday, February 15, 1971
Death details: On December 11, 2000, Joint Task Force-Full Accounting (JTF-FA, now DPAA) identified the remains of Warrant Officer 1 Barry Frank Fivelson, missing from the Vietnam War.

Warrant Officer 1 Fivelson entered the U.S. Army from Illinois and served with the 159th Aviation Battalion, 101st Airborne Division. On February 15, 1971, he was a passenger aboard a CH-47C Chinook (tail number 18506, call sign “Regard 25”) on a combat support/resupply mission over Laos. During the flight, “Regard 25” caught fire, exploded in mid-air, and crashed near the Pon River in Savannakhet Province, Laos. Warrant Officer 1 Fivelson was killed in the crash and his remains could not be recovered at the time. After the war, a series of joint U.S.-Laotian investigative teams located the crash site and recovered human remains, some of which were forensically identified as those of WO1 Fivelson.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Wilkinson, Clyde David
Army Captain

Clyde David Wilkinson, age 25, from Mount Carmel, Illinois, Wabash County

Service era: Vietnam

Spouse: Married

Children: Tiffany, 3; Tracey, 1

Schools: Mount Carmel High, Shelbyville HIgh graduate

Date of death: Friday, February 12, 1971

Death details:  On August 6, 1999, Joint Task Force-Full Accounting (JTF-FA, now DPAA) identified the remains of Captain Clyde David Wilkinson, missing from the Vietnam War.

Captain Wilkinson joined the U.S. Army from Texas and was a member of Troop C, 17th Cavalry Regiment, 101st Airborne Division. On February 12, 1971, he was the aircraft commander aboard an AH-1G Cobra (serial number unknown) on an armed reconnaissance mission near Quang Tri, South Vietnam. During the mission, the helicopter was hit and damaged by enemy ground fire. The crew attempted to return to base at Khe Sanh, but the aircraft caught fire and crashed and exploded during an attempted emergency landing. CPT Wilkinson was killed in the incident but his remains could not be recovered at the time. During the 1990s, joint search teams revisited the crash site and eventually recovered remains that were identified as those of CPT Wilkinson.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, findagrave.com, Mount Carmel Daily Republican-Register (1971)

Keller, Jack Elmer
Navy Captain

Jack Elmer Keller, age 36, from Chicago, Illinois, Cook county.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: April 21, 1966
Death details:  On April 21, 1966, an A-6A Intruder (bureau number 151798) with two crew members took part in a two-plane night attack mission against an enemy supply and barracks area on the coast of North Vietnam. During the mission, the wingman observed a bright flash from the direction of this Intruder. The wingman then lost contact with this aircraft and it disappeared from friendly radar tracking. A surface-to-air missile (SAM) warning had been sounded earlier, but the wingman had no basis to believe a SAM had been launched. Search and rescue efforts were unable to locate this Intruder or either of its crew members.

Lieutenant Commander Jack Elmer Keller, who entered the U.S. Navy from Illinois, served with Attack Squadron 85. He was the pilot of this Intruder at the time of its loss on April 21, 1966, and he remains unaccounted-for. While carried in the status of missing in action (MIA), the U.S. Navy promoted LCDR Keller to the rank of Captain (CAPT). Today, CAPT Keller is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Cemetery: Memorialized at Jonesboro, Illinois

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, findagrave.com

Collins, Willard Marion
Air Force Captain

Willard Marion Collins from Quincy, Illinois, Adams county.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: Wednesday, March 9, 1966
Death details: 

On March 9, 1966, an AC-47 Spooky (bureau number 44-76290) with six crew members was providing close air support in defense of the A Shau Special Forces Camp, which was under heavy enemy assault and in danger of being overrun. On its second pass at treetop level over the enemy, the Spooky was hit by enemy ground fire, which tore the right engine from its mounts and forced the pilot to crash land on a nearby mountainside, in the vicinity of grid coordinates YC 481 871. The crew set up a defensive perimeter around the aircraft but the enemy attacked again. Soon after, the crew made radio contact with a U.S. Army pilot, who then located the downed Spooky and directed additional U.S. aircraft to make passes over the area to suppress enemy fire. The downed crew eventually received word that rescue helicopters were en route but within a short while, enemy fire raked the side of the Spooky and killed two crew members. A third enemy assault began just as the rescue helicopter arrived; the helicopter rescued three of the remaining four crew members. The two crew members who died during the action, and the remaining crew member who was not rescued following the third assault, were not recovered and all remain unaccounted-for.

Captain Willard Marion Collins entered the U.S. Air Force from Illinois and served in the 6250th Combat Support Group. He was the pilot of this AC-47 when it was shot down on March 9, 1966, and was killed when enemy fire raked the downed aircraft before the rescue helicopter landed. His remains were not recovered at the time but were observed at the crash site by survivors from the special forces camp who investigated the site following the crash. Attempts following the war to recover his remains were unsuccessful, and he remains unaccounted-for. Today, Captain Collins is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Load More
Back To Top