Jeremy Cain Sherman, age 23, from Watseka, Illinois.
Service era: Afghanistan
Date of death: Thursday, November 12, 2020
Death details: Among five soldiers killed in Egypt when their Black Hawk helicopter crashed from a mechanical malfunction.
Source: ABC News, Military Times
Robert Eugene St. Peter, age 32, from Iroquois County Gilman, Illinois .
Parents: Nelson J. St. Peter
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Saturday, January 29, 1966
Death details: Hostile, killed in South Vietnam
Source: National Archives, Associated Press (1966)
Dean Arnold Steele, age 19, from Iroquois County Papineau, Illinois .
Parents: Arnold Steele
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Tuesday, July 31, 1951
Death details: On February 5, 1951, Allied forces in Korea launched an offensive against North Korean and Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) north of Wonju. Republic of Korea units and the 38th Infantry Regiment and supporting artillery units, including the 15th and 503rd Field Artillery Battalions, and the 82nd Antiaircraft Artillery and Automatic Weapons Battalion, initially met light resistance on their drive to the north. On February 11, the CCF launched an aggressive counteroffensive that caused the Allies to withdraw back southward. However, the CCF had established a series of roadblocks on the road to the south, forcing the Allies to fight their way back to friendly lines. Sergeant Dean Arnold Steele entered the U.S. Army from Illinois and was a member of C Company, 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. On February 12, 1951, he was taken captive while clearing a roadblock near Saemal, South Korea, during the 38th’s Infantry Regiment’s withdrawal. After his capture, he was marched to prisoner holding camps along the Yalu River in North Korea. Repatriated American prisoners of war (POWs) reported SGT Steele was transferred to a prison camp hospital, where he died on or before July 31, 1951, though exact details surrounding his death are unknown. U.S. investigators have not been able to access the area to search for his remains, and he has not been associated with any remains returned to U.S. custody after the war. Today, Sergeant Steele is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. His name is also inscribed on the Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC, which was updated in 2022 to include the names of the fallen.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Saint Annew Record (1951)
Jack Marvin Redman, age 20, from Watseka, Illinois, Iroquois county.
Parents: Guy E. Redman
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Tuesday, November 23, 1943
Death details: On December 20, 2014, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC, now DPAA) identified the remains of Private Jack Marvin Redman, missing from World War II. Private Redman, who entered the U.S. Marine Corps from Illinois, served in Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 6th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division. On November 23, 1943, he was killed during the assault on Betio Island during the Battle of Tarawa. His remains were buried on Betio, but were not identified among the remains recovered from the island after the battle. In 2013, JPAC investigators excavated a burial site on Betio and recovered human remains. Additionally, while the team was excavating the site, a local villager turned over partial human remains found in the same location. JPAC analysts were able to identify Private Redman from among these collective remains.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Elmer A. H. Giertz, age 22, from Iroquois County Illinois.
Service era: World War I
Date of death: Saturday, September 28, 1918
Death details: Died of disease
Source: Soldiers of the Great War