Christopher M. Talbert, age 24, from Galesburg, Illinois, Knox county. Their last known residence was in Galesburg.
Service era: Afghanistan
Military history: 2nd Battalion, 130th Infantry Regiment, Marion, Illinois.
Date of death: Tuesday, July 7, 2009
Death details: Died in Shindad, Afghanistan of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle.
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times
Daniel Brian Miller Jr., age 24, from Galesburg, Illinois, Knox county.
Parents: Robin Mahnesmith and Daniel Miller Sr.; Step parents Daniel Mahnesmith and Shari Miller
Spouse: None
Children: None
Service era: Iraq
Schools: ROWVA High in Oneida (2001); Carl Sandburg College
Military history: 775Th Civil Engineering Squadron, Hill Afb, Utah; enlisted in 2004
Date of death: Sunday, January 7, 2007
Death details: Hostile; Al Mamudiyah, Iraq
Cemetery: Wataga Cemetery
Source: Department of Defense, Journal Star, Military Times
Caleb Andrew Lufkin, age 24, from Knoxville, Illinois, Knox county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: Company B, 5Th Engineer Battalion, Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri
Date of death: Thursday, May 25, 2006
Death details: Died at Walter Reed Army Medical Center, Washington D.C. of injuries sustained May 4 when an improvised explosive device dtonated near his RG-31 mine protected vehicle during combat operation in Iraq
Cemetery: Knoxville Cemetery, Knoxville, Illinois
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times, findagrave.com
Kyle Brett Wehrly, age 28, from Galesburg, Illinois, Knox county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: Battery B, 2D Battalion, 123D Field Artillery (Mnc-I) Macomb, Il
Date of death: Thursday, November 3, 2005
Death details: Hostile; Balad, Iraq
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times
James Watson Wood, age 27, from Galesburg, Illinois, Knox county.
Parents: Leslie A. Wood
Spouse: Linda (Erlandson)
Children: Brian, 1
Service era: Vietnam
Schools: Air Force Academy (1965)
Date of death: Monday, August 17, 1970
Death details: Killed during a nighttime aricraft mission in Vietnam
Source: National Archives, Quad City Times (1970)
Terry Elmer Guenther, age 20, from Galesburg, Illinois, Knox county.
Parents: Lester E. Guenther Sr.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Thursday, March 12, 1970
Death details: Non-hostile in South Vietnam
Source: National Archives, Effingham Daily News (1970)
Gary Wayne Ericson, age 23, from Galesburg, Illinois, Knox county.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Monday, January 5, 1970
Death details: Hostile, killed in South Vietnam
Source: National Archives, Associated Press (1970)
Robert P. Heflin, age 21, from Knox County Victoria, Illinois .
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Tuesday, July 14, 1953
Death details: On July 13, 1953, the U.S. Army’s 555th Field Artillery Battalion was positioned to support the Republic of Korea (ROK) 6th Division along a stretch of line known as the Kumsong Salient, when the Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) launched a massive night attack. The 555th Field Artillery continued to fire in support of the ROK forces during the initial stage of the attack, despite coming under heavy enemy artillery fire themselves. However, early on July 14, CCF troops penetrated the ROK lines and were able to attack the 555th’s own positions. Several battery positions were overrun by the numerically superior attackers before a withdrawal order was received. By that point, few men were actually able to withdraw. Some managed to evade enemy forces and work their way back to friendly lines over the following days, but a number of the 555th Field Artillery’s men were captured by the enemy or went missing. The battlefield now lies on the North Korean side of the Demilitarized Zone separating North and South Korea. Sergeant Robert Paul Heflin, who entered the U.S. Army from Illinois, served with Battery C, 555th Field Artillery Battalion, 24th Infantry Division. He was reported missing on July 14, 1953, following the CCF attack, although specific details regarding his loss are unknown. His remains were not recovered at the time, and subsequent search efforts have been impeded by the fact that the loss area now lies in North Korean territory. Today, Sergeant Heflin is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Galesburg Register Mail (1953)
Wallace Leroy Slight, age 24, from Yates City, Illinois, Knox county.
Parents: Emma Jessup Slight (died in 1953) and John Slight
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Wednesday, November 1, 1950
Death details: Slight’s company was occupying a defensive position in North Korea, along the Nammyon River, near a bend known as the “”Camel’s Head.”” Two enemy elements attacked the 1st Cavalry Division’s lines, collapsing their perimeter and forcing a withdrawal. Almost 400 men, including Slight, were reported missing or killed in action following the battle. In 1953, a U.S. soldier captured during the same battle reported that a fellow prisoner of war had told him Slight had died on the battlefield during the attack. Between 1991 and 1994, North Korea gave the United States 208 boxes of remains believed to contain the remains of 200-400 U.S. servicemen. North Korean documents turned over with one of the boxes indicated the remains in one of the boxes were exhumed near Unsan County, North Pyongan Province. This location correlates with the location of the 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment on Nov. 2, 1950. Analysts from DPMO and the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) developed case leads with information spanning more than 58 years. Through interviews with eyewitnesses, experts evaluated circumstances surrounding the soldier’s captivity and death and researched wartime documentation of his loss. Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from JPAC used dental comparisons and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory used mitochondrial DNA — which matched that of Slight’s brother and half-brother — in the identification.
Cemetery: Buried Dec. 3, 2010 at the Iowa Veterans Cemetery, Van Meter, Iowa.
Source: Department of Defense, Chicago Tribune, Des Moines Register
James V. McNamara from Illinois, Knox county.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Friday, June 12, 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. Staff Sergeant James V. McNamara entered the U.S. Army Air Forces from Illinois and served in the 17th Bombardment Squadron, 27th Bombardment Group in the Philippines during World War II. He was captured in Bataan following the American surrender on April 9, 1942, and died of dysentery on June 12, 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 remains recovered from Cabanatuan after the war. Today, Staff Sergeant McNamara is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency