Promote & Preserve stories of U.S. fallen soldiers/sailors
Douglas Alan Lemond, age 21, from LaPorte, Indiana, LaPorte County
Service era: Vietnam
Spouse: Shirley Lemond
Parents: Mrs. Raymond Reed and Donald J. LeMond
Date of death: Tuesday, October 14, 1969
Death details: Non-hostile, illness in South Vietnam. Died from fever contracted during combat.
Cemetery: Walnut Hill, Petersburg
Source: National Archives, grave marker, South Bend Tribune (1969)
Herbert Vernon McKeehan, age 28, from Laporte, Indiana, LaPorte county.
Parents: Homer McKeehan
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Thursday, November 2, 1950
Death details: During the last week of October 1950, Republic of Korea (ROK) Army forces under the control of the U.S. Eighth Army were advancing deep in North Korean territory, approaching the Yalu River on the Chinese-Korean border. Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) struck back in a surprise attack, engaging the ROK 1st and 6th Divisions near Unsan, some sixty miles north of Pyongyang. The U.S. 1st Cavalry Division, with the 8th Cavalry Regiment in the lead, was rushed forward to reinforce the ROK units in the Unsan area. On November 1, the regiment’s 1st Battalion took up positions north of Unsan, while the 2nd Battalion moved to guard the Nammyon River valley west of town, and the 3rd Battalion was placed in reserve at the valley’s southern end. Private First Class Herbert V. McKeehan, who joined the U.S. Army from Indiana, was a member of Company B of the 70th Tank Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division. On November 1, the CCF engaged in a sneak attack on U.S. forces stationed near Unsan. Despite fierce resistance, the American battalions were forced to withdraw. While 1st and 2nd Battalions of the 8th Cavalry Regiment were able to retreat that night, the heavy enemy presence complicated the withdrawal and led to severe losses. During the retreat, the tank that PFC McKeehan was riding in possibly got jammed up in a roadblock in Unsan. He is believed to have been killed after dismounting from the tank. He was not recovered at the time of his loss, and could not be associated with any of the remains that North Korean officials returned to U.S. custody following the conflict’s armistice. Today, Private First Class McKeehan is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, South Bend Tribune (1950)
Jerry E. Uhls, age 18, from Indiana, LaPorte county.
Service era: Korea
Military history: 9th Infantry, 2nd Infantry Division; Purple Heart
Date of death: Friday, September 1, 1950
Death details: Killed in action
Cemetery: New Albany National
Source: National Archives, grave marker
Percy L. Jr. Scott from Michigan City, Indiana, LaPorte county.
Service era: World War II
Spouse: Married
Parent: Elsie Scott
Date of death: January 2, 1945
Death details: Finding of death
Source: National Archives, Casper Star Tribune (1944)
William Edeward Rambo, age 20, from LaPorte, Indiana, LaPorte county.
Parents: Paul Rambo
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Saturday, November 20, 1943
Death details: On June 24, 2019, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Private William Edward Rambo, missing from World War II. Private Rambo, who joined the U.S. Marine Corps from Illinois, served with Company H, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division. He was killed in action on November 20, 1943, during the amphibious assault on Betio Island, the opening salvo of the Battle of Tarawa. He was buried in a cemetery later designated Cemetery 27; however, in 1946, repatriation efforts on the island failed to locate the burial site. In 2015, the non-profit organization, History Flight (now an external provider of DPAA), located Cemetery 27 while excavating on Betio. The remains recovered from the cemetery were turned over to DPAA. In 2019, DPAA analysts identified Private Rambo from among these remains.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Wilbur L. Crane from Indiana, LaPorte county.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Wednesday, July 22, 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 and food and water supplied 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. Private First Class Wilbur L. Crane joined the U.S. Army from Indiana and served with the Signal Air Warning Company in the Philippines during World War II. He was captured in Bataan following the American surrender and died of malaria on July 22, 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, Private First Class Crane is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
William Herman Trapp, age 24, from LaPorte, Indiana, LaPorte county.
Parents: William E. Trapp
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Sunday, December 7, 1941
Death details: Killed aboard the USS Okahoma. He and his brother, Fire Controlman 2nd Class Harold F. Trapp were both aboard the Oklahoma. Both accounted for November 24, 2020
Source: National Archives, Department of Defense
Harold Frank Trapp, age 24, from LaPorte, Indiana, LaPorte county.
Parents: William E. Trapp
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Sunday, December 7, 1941
Death details: Killed aboard the USS Okahoma. He and his brother, Electrician’s Mate 3rd Class William H. Trapp were both aboard the Oklahoma. Both accounted for November 24, 2020
Source: National Archives, Department of Defense