Thomas David Gillaspy, age 24, from Monticello, Mississippi, Lawrence county.
Spouse: Vicky Prescott Gillaspy
Children: One child
Service era: Vietnam
Schools: University of Southern Mississippi graduate
Date of death: Tuesday, July 7, 1970
Death details: Killed in a helicopter crash.
Cemetery: Masonic in Monticello
Source: National Archives, McComb Enterprise Journal, findagrave.com
Creighton Wayne Sistrunk, age 20, from Monticello, Mississippi, Lawrence county.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Monday, June 8, 1970
Source: National Archives
Lucius Alexander, age 22, from Mississippi, Lawrence county.
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Wednesday, July 8, 1953
Death details: On July 6, 1953, a large Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) unit attacked and overran the U.S. Army outposts on Pork Chop Hill in an attempt to seize whatever territory possible before the impending armistice agreement. After fighting for the position for four days, on July 10, the 7th Infantry Division Commander determined that the CCF disregard for casualties and desire to hold the outpost outweighed the position’s tactical value, and ordered a withdrawal that was eventually completed on July 11. The U.S. never again controlled Pork Chop Hill, preventing thorough recovery efforts for those who were killed or went missing during the fighting. Corporal Lucius Alexander, who joined the U.S. Army from Mississippi, served with Company F, 2nd Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. On July 8, 1953, CPL Alexander was a part of a three-company counterattack launched in order to break the Chinese attack on Pork Chop Hill. The mission was unsuccessful after roughly three hours of intense fighting, during which CPL Alexander went missing in action. He was never reported to be a prisoner of war, and his remains were not recovered or identified following the war. Today, Corporal Alexander is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Samuel L. Raynes from Mississippi, Lawrence county.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Thursday, October 8, 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. Private Samuel L. Raynes entered the U.S. Army from Mississippi and served with the 192nd Tank Battalion 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 October 8, 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 Raynes is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency