Promote & Preserve stories of U.S. fallen soldiers/sailors
Jimmy Darrell Roberson, age 20, from Flora, Mississippi, Madison county.
Parents: Purvie Roberson
Service era: Vietnam
Military history: 1st Cavalry Division (Air-mobile)
Date of death: Saturday, March 14, 1970
Death details: Killed in action
Source: National Archives, Sun Herald (1970)
Willie Ray Graves, age 21, from Sharon, Mississippi, Madison 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. Private First Class Willie Ray Graves, who joined the U.S. Marine Corps from Mississippi, was a member of Company D, 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division. On November 20, 1943, he was killed in action during the Battle of Tarawa. He was buried in the Main Marine cemetery on Tarawa, but his remains were not found in post-war searches of the site. Today, Private First Class Graves is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
John H. Rimmer from Mississippi, Madison 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 First Class John H. Rimmer joined the U.S. Army Air Forces from Mississippi and served with the 14th Bombardment Squadron, 19th 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 malaria, dysentery, and malnutrition 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 First Class Rimmer is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
James Austin Menefee, age 20, from Madison County Jackson, Mississippi .
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Sunday, December 7, 1941
Death details: Killed aboard the USS Arizona. Remains not recovered.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Lonnie Harris Oglesby, age 23, from Madison County Jackson, Mississippi .
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Sunday, December 7, 1941
Death details: Killed aboard the USS Arizona. Remains not recovered.
Source: National Archives, Jackson Clarion Ledger (1941)