Steven Ernest Lucas, age 21, from North Vernon, Indiana, Jennings county.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Saturday, October 3, 1970
Death details: Non-hostile in South Vietnam
Source: National Archives, Associated Press (1970)
Michael Dan Euler, age 19, from Jennings County North Vernon, Indiana .
Parents: Robert Euler
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Thursday, May 19, 1966
Death details: Hostile in South Vietnam
Source: National Archives, Journal and Courier (1966)
Charles Hobart McDaniel from Indiana, Jennings county.
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Thursday, November 2, 1950
Death details: On September 12, 2018, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Master Sergeant Charles Hobert McDaniel, missing from the Korean War.
Master Sergeant McDaniel, who entered the U.S. Army from Indiana, was a member of the Medical Company, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 3rd Battalion. In 1950, his unit was positioned near Unsan, North Korea, when they came under attack from Chinese Communist Forces (CCF). MSG McDaniel was initially reported missing following this action but was never seen alive in enemy hands. On July 27, 2018, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea returned fifty-five boxes reportedly containing the remains of U.S. service members killed during the Korean War. These remains were accessioned into the DPAA laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, and MSG McDaniel was individually identified from among them.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Kenneth L. Cozad, age 21, from Butlerville, Indiana, Jennings county.
Parents: Francis Cozad
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Sunday, July 30, 1950
Death details: On July 30, 1950, the 24th Infantry Division’s undermanned and ill-equipped 19th Infantry Regiment, which had been rushed to Korea from garrison duty in Japan, established defensive lines around the South Korean city of Chinju. The soldiers of the 19th Infantry faced the North Korean People’s Army (NKPA), which was moving inexorably south down the Korean peninsula. The unit lacked heavy artillery and anti-tank weaponry, and the Americans were ultimately unable to stop the NKPA and were forced to withdraw further south to prevent being surrounded. Sergeant Kenneth Lee Cozad, who joined the U.S. Army from Indiana, served with G Company, 2nd Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was reported missing near Chinju on July 30, though specific details regarding his loss are unknown. His name was later discovered on a school house used by the North Koreans as a temporary holding point for prisoners of war (POWs), however, he was never officially reported to be a POW, and after the war, none of the returned POWs remembered seeing SGT Cozad alive in enemy hands. It is believed he may have been held only briefly before he died of wounds or was killed by his captors. His remains were not identified among those returned to U.S. custody after the ceasefire, and he is still unaccounted for. Today, Sergeant Cozad is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency , Columbus Republic (1953)
Patrick L. Hennessy, age 29, from Jennings County Indiana.
Parents: John M. Hennessy
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Saturday, January 27, 1945
Death details: On December 13, 1944, Japanese forces in the Philippines began the transfer of 1,621 Allied prisoners of war (POWs) to Japan. The POWs were to make the journey aboard transport ships whose harsh conditions and extreme overcrowding led survivors to refer to them as “Hell Ships.” The ships also lacked markings that would distinguish them from any other military target, causing some of them to be attacked by Allied forces who could not identify them as POW transports. On December 14, 1944, Allied aircraft attacked the first ship, the Oryoku Maru, in Subic Bay in the Philippines, killing many Allied POWs who became lost in the water, sank with the ship, or were washed ashore. Survivors of the bombing were put aboard two other ships, the Enoura Maru and the Brazil Maru, to continue on to Japan. During its journey on January 9, 1945, while anchored in Takao Harbor, Formosa (present-day Taiwan), the Enoura Maru was attacked by Allied aircraft from the USS Hornet (CV-8), killing Allied POWs who were lost in the water, on board the ship, or on the nearby shore. Survivors of the Enoura Maru bombing were loaded onto the Brazil Maru, and reached Japan on January 30, 1945. As a result of these incidents, Allied POWs were lost in the Philippines, at sea between the Philippines and Taiwan, while anchored in Taiwan, at sea between Taiwan and Japan, and in Japan. The attacks on these POW transports ultimately resulted in a series of death notifications from the Japanese government through the International Red Cross (IRC), and some casualties were given up to five different dates of death at various locations during the transfer. Witness accounts from surviving POWs offer detailed information for a handful of casualties, but the specific dates of loss and/or last-known locations for many of these POWs are based on the most recent reported date of death. Private Patrick L. Hennessy joined the U.S. Army from Indiana and served as a medic in the 31st Infantry Regiment during the defense of the Philippines. Private Hennessy was taken as a POW following the Japanese invasion and was interned in the islands until December 1944, when he was transferred to the Oryoku Maru for transport to Japan. Records indicate that Private Hennessy survived the sinking of the Oryoku Maru and then the attack on the Enoura Maru before he was transferred to the Brazil Maru. He died on January 27, 1945, from wounds received during the bombings of the first two ships. However, these reports often involve information furnished solely by enemy governments, with some casualties given multiple dates of death. Future research may determine these reports were inaccurate. Private Hennessy’s remains could not be identified following the war, and he is still unaccounted-for. Today, Private Hennessy is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines. 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, The Times (1943)
Ervin E. Madden, age 21, from Indiana, Jennings county.
Service era: World War II
Military history: Infantry
Date of death: Monday, July 3, 1944
Death details: Killed in action
Cemetery: New Albany National
Source: National Archives, grave marker
William Earl Darling, age 20, from Jennings County North Vernon, Indiana .
Parents: James William Darling
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Sunday, March 1, 1942
Death details: Killed aboard the USS Houston when the ship was attacked traveling from Batavia to Java.
Source: National Arvhies, USSHouston.org, North Vernon Plain Dealer (1942)