Bryan Nicholas Spry, age 19, from Chestertown, Maryland, Kent county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: Co. D, 1St Battalion, 504Th Parachute Infantry Regiment, Fort Bragg, N.C. 28310
Date of death: Saturday, February 14, 2004
Death details: Baghdad, Iraq
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times
Robert Julian Jr. Davis, age 20, from Galena, Maryland, Kent county.
Service era: Vietnam
Military history: 35th Infantry Regiment
Date of death: Monday, August 7, 1967
Death details: Bronze star citation: For heroism in connection with military operations against an armed hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam. On 7 August 1967, PFC Davis distinguished himself while serving as a Rifleman in Company A, 1st Battalion, 35th Infantry. His platoon was on a combat patrol in an area of known enemy activity near La Van when it came across a trail leading through the dense vegetation. PFC Davis and several others were detached to provide security along the trail while a reconnaissance was made. As they progressed up the trail, the point man unintentionally entered a mine field and was wounded when he detonated an enemy anti-personnel mine. Disregarding the extreme danger and thinking only of the welfare of his comrade, PFC Davis ran forward into the mine field and picked-up the fallen man. As he carried the man back to safety, he also stepped on a mine and received serious wounds from the explosion. Both men were medically evacuated immediately, but PFC Davis succumbed to his wounds shortly thereafter, His unselfish and heroic action at the cost of his life is in keeping with the highest tradition of the military service and reflects great credit on himself, his unit, and the United States Army.
Cemetery: Galena Cemetery
Source: National Archives, 35th Infantry Regiment Association
Clarence Matthews Jr. Newcomb, age 37, from Kent County Chestertown, Maryland .
Parents: Bertha Newcomb
Spouse: Virginia Lee (Starkey)
Children: William M., Susan E.
Service era: Vietnam
Schools: Chestertown High graduate
Military history: World War II veteran
Date of death: Friday, June 25, 1965
Death details: Died in a jeep accident in South Vietnam.
Cemetery: Non-hostile
Source: National Archives
Gilbert Lamour Jr. Ashley, age 30, from Rock Hall, Maryland, Kent county.
Parents: Gilbert L. Ashley Sr.
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Thursday, January 29, 1953
Death details: On the evening on January 28, 1953, a B-29 Superfortress (tail number 42-65357A) with a crew of fourteen departed Kadena Air Base in a flight of four. The briefed mission was a night bombing operation targeting the Kompo-Dong supply yard south of Pyongyang, North Korea. Shortly after releasing its payload, the B-29 was attacked by enemy MiG-15 fighters. Just after midnight, the aircraft commander made a distress call and ordered the crew to bail out. A few minutes later, witnesses reported the Superfortress caught fire and exploded in midair near Hungsu-ri. It is believed that five airmen were still aboard the aircraft when it exploded. The nine surviving crew members were captured by the North Koreans; three of them were returned to U.S. custody following the war, and one is known to have died at the Pike’s Peak prisoner interrogation center. While being moved in a convoy to a holding site, the remaining five prisoners were “liberated” by a group of Korean irregulars, believed to be North Koreans masquerading as South Korean guerrillas. Later that day, the B-29’s Aircraft Commander (Captain Gilbert Ashley) was allowed to contact United Nations Forces. On April 24, U.S. forces attempted to rescue the five men, but the rescue aircraft was fired upon during the attempt and the efforts were abandoned. Later reporting revealed the loyalty of the guerrilla unit and the probability that it had used the prisoners as bait. The five prisoners became known as the “Ashley 5,” after the Aircraft Commander, and all five of them remain unaccounted-for, along with the five who were believed to be aboard the plane when it exploded and the one who died at the Pike’s Peak center. Captain Gilbert Lamour Ashley, who joined the U.S. Air Force from Maryland, was a member of the 28th Bombardment Squadron, 19th Bombardment Group. He was the Aircraft Commander aboard the B-29, and the namesake of the Ashley 5. Further attempts to locate him were unsuccessful, and he is still unaccounted-for. Today, Captain Ashley is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. Gilbert’s relatives learned in 1990s that Gilbert was alive in the hands of North Korean captors after the July 1953 armistice was signed, but he was never heard from again. Relativeswerelatertoldthoseaboardsurvivedthecrashandwereheldcaptivebytheenemy.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Daily Times (1953)
Lewis B. Starkey, age 20, from Maryland, Kent county.
Service era: Korea
Military history: 35th Infantry Regiment
Date of death: Wednesday, June 6, 1951
Death details: Killed in actio, North Korea
Source: National Archives, 35th Infantry Regiment Association
Leonard Preston Slagle, age 18, from Kent County Rock Hall, Maryland .
Parents: Mildred H. Slagle
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Thursday, April 26, 1951
Death details: In spring of 1951, the Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) and North Korean forces launched a large-scale offensive with the main objective of capturing Seoul, the capital of South Korea. On April 26, 1951 CCF and North Korean troops attacked elements of the U.S. Army’s 32nd Infantry Regiment attempting to hold a ridge line northwest of the town of Inje, South Korea. Although enemy troops broke through the defensive lines in several small, localized areas, the major thrust of the attack was blunted, denying the enemy control of two main supply lines south to Seoul. Sergeant First Class Leonard Preston Slagle entered the U.S. Army from Maryland and served with C Company, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. On April 26, 1951, he was hit by enemy small arms fire near Hill 902 during the action near Inje, North Korea. SFC Slagle was last seen rolling over the side of the hill and he could not be recovered before his unit withdrew from the area. When U.S. forces returned to recover their lost and wounded, SFC Slagle could not be found, and he was reported missing in action. Attempts to locate or identify his remains after the war were also unsuccessful and he is still unaccounted-for. Today, Sergeant First Class Slagle 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, Baltimore Sun (1951)