Promote & Preserve stories of U.S. fallen soldiers/sailors
William R. Moody, age 30, from Burleson, Texas, Johnson county.
Service era: Afghanistan
Military history: 10th Transportation Battalion, 7th Sustainment Brigade, Fort Eustis, Virginia.
Date of death: Tuesday, June 18, 2013
Death details: Died in Bagram Afghanistan when enemy forces attacked their unit with indirect fire. Killed were Sgt. Justin R. Johnson, Spc. Ember M. Alt, Spc. Robert W. Ellis, Spc. William R. Moody.
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times
Jesse W. Dietrich, age 25, from Venus, Texas, Johnson county.
Parents: Paul Dietrich
Spouse: Mansfield ISD Schools
Children: Kevin Wayne Dietrich
Service era: Afghanistan
Military history: 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, New York.
Date of death: Thursday, August 25, 2011
Death details: Died in Kandahar Province, Afghanistan of injuries sustained when insurgents attacked his unit using small arms fire.
Source: Department of Defense, legacy.com, Sun Telegram, Military Times
Bryan A. Burgess, age 29, from Cleburne, Texas, Johnson county.
Service era: Afghanistan
Military history: 2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
Date of death: Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Death details: Died at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with small arms fire in Konar Province, Afghanistan. Killed were Staff Sgt. Bryan A. Burgess and Dustin J. Feldhaus.
Source: Department of Defense.
Johnnie Vell Mason, age 32, from Rio Vista, Texas, Johnson county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: 717Th Ordnance Company, (Tf Baghdad), Fort Campbell, Ky
Date of death: Monday, December 19, 2005
Death details: Hostile; Al Mahmudiyah, Iraq
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times
Jeremy Olin Allmon, age 22, from Cleburne, Texas, Johnson county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: C Co, 3D Bn, 8Th Cavalry, 1St Cavalry Division, (Tf Baghdad), Fort Hood, Tx
Date of death: Sunday, February 6, 2005
Death details: Hostile; Taji, Iraq
Source: Department of Defense
George Edward Powell, age 26, from Cleburne, Texas, Johnson county.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Tuesday, April 21, 1970
Source: National Archives
Ralph Martin from Burleson, Texas, Johnson county.
Parents: H.R. Martin
Service era: Vietnam
Schools: Mansfield High (1966), Navarro Junior College
Date of death: Thursday, February 5, 1970
Death details: Killed in action in Vietnam
Source: National Archives, Mansfield News Mirror (1970)
John Eugene Fore, age 19, from Johnson County Jacksonville, Texas .
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Thursday, November 30, 1950
Death details: By mid-November 1950, U.S. and Allied forces had advanced to within approximately sixty miles of the Yalu River, the border between North Korea and China. On November 25, approximately 300,000 Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) “volunteers” suddenly and fiercely counterattacked after crossing the Yalu. The 2nd Infantry Division, located the farthest north of units at the Chongchon River, could not halt the CCF advance and was ordered to withdraw to defensive positions at Sunchon in the South Pyongan province of North Korea. As the division pulled back from Kunu-ri toward Sunchon, it conducted an intense rearguard action while fighting to break through well-defended roadblocks set up by CCF infiltrators. The withdrawal was not complete until December 1, and the 2nd Infantry Division suffered extremely heavy casualties in the process. Corporal John Eugene Fore, who joined the U.S. Army from Texas, was a member of B Company, 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He went missing in action during the fighting withdrawal from Kunu-ri on November 30, but the exact circumstances surrounding his loss are unknown. He was never reported as a prisoner of war, and his remains have not been recovered or identified following the end of hostilities. Today, Corporal Fore 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, Associated Press (1954)
George Washington Pinckard, age 22, from Grandview, Texas, Johnson county.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Saturday, November 20, 1943
Death details: From November 20 through 23, 1943, the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Navy conducted a large-scale amphibious assault on the Japanese-held atoll of Tarawa as part of Operation Galvanic, the Allied capture of the Gilbert Islands. Located 2,500 miles southwest of Hawaii, Tarawa was a crucial stepping stone in the planned U.S. offensive across the central Pacific toward Japan. The Japanese garrison on Tarawa’s main island of Betio was well-entrenched with hundreds of bunkers and gun positions behind formidable beach obstacles. The first wave of Marines approaching the shore encountered lower-than-expected tides, forcing them to leave their landing craft on the reef and wade the hundreds of yards to the beach under intense enemy fire. The heaviest number of U.S. casualties were suffered during this phase of the landing. Eventually, rising tides allowed U.S. warships to maneuver closer to shore and support the troops with effective naval gunfire. More Marines landed on the second day, launching attacks inland from the beaches and seizing the Japanese airfield on the island. However, the enemy launched vicious counterattacks and two more days of intense fighting were needed to secure Betio. The last enemy strongpoints were taken on the morning of November 23. The fighting on Betio cost the Marines nearly 3,000 casualties but enabled U.S. forces to press further across the Pacific and yielded valuable tactical lessons that reduced U.S. losses in future amphibious landings. Corporal George Washington Pinckard entered the U.S. Marine Corps from Texas and served in Company H, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division. He was killed in action on November 20, 1943, during the Battle of Tarawa. Corporal Pinckard was buried on Betio in Cemetery #11. His remains could not be identified among those disinterred from the island after the war. Today, Corporal Pinckard is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Charles F. Starnes, age 24, from Texas, Johnson county.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Saturday, July 4, 1942
Death details: Following the Allied surrender on the Bataan Peninsula on April 9, 1942, the Japanese began the forcible transfer of American and Filipino prisoners of war to various prison camps in central Luzon, at the northern end of the Philippines. The largest of these camps was the notorious Cabanatuan Prison Camp. At its peak, Cabanatuan held approximately 8,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war that were captured during and after the Fall of Bataan. Camp overcrowding worsened with the arrival of Allied prisoners who had surrendered from Corregidor on May 6, 1942. Conditions at the camp were poor, with food and water extremely limited, leading to widespread malnutrition and outbreaks of malaria and dysentery. By the time the camp was liberated in early 1945, approximately 2,800 Americans had died at Cabanatuan. Prisoners were forced to bury the dead in makeshift communal graves, often completed without records or markers. As a result, identifying and recovering remains interred at Cabanatuan was difficult in the years after the war. Sergeant Charles F. Starnes joined the U.S. Army from Texas and served with Company M of the 31st Infantry Regiment in the Philippines during World War II. He was captured in Bataan following the American surrender on April 9, 1942, and died of dysentery and malaria on July 4, 1942, at the Cabanatuan Prison Camp in Nueva Ecija Province. He was buried in a communal grave in the camp cemetery along with other deceased American POWs; however, his remains could not be associated with any of those recovered from Cabanatuan after the war. Today, Sergeant Starnes is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency