Madison County New York

Bolen, Edward H.
Army Sergeant

Edward H. Bolen, age 25, from Chittenango, New York, Madison county.

Parents: Walter Bolen and Jeanine Hafner Bolen
Spouse: Andrea Perez Bolen (married September 4, 2010)
Children: None

Service era: Afghanistan
Schools: Chittenango High (2003)
Military history: 2nd Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), Fort Drum, New York. Bronze Star, Purple Heart

Date of death: Wednesday, November 10, 2010
Death details: Died in Logar Province, Afghanistan of wounds suffered when insurgents attacked his unit using small arms fire and an improvised explosive device.
Cemetery: Oakland, Chittenango

Source: Department of Defense, Military Times

Fisk, Gary John
Navy Boatswain’s mate

Gary John Fisk, age 24, from Oneida, New York, Madison county.

Service era: Cold War

Date of death: Wednesday, April 19, 1989
Death details: Killed in accidental explosion aboard the USS Iowa just off Puerto Rico

Source: Iowa Daily Press, UPI

Porter, William Roy
Army Sergeant

William Roy Porter, age 20, from Oneida, New York, Madison county.

Parents: Stanley H. and Rosemary O’Dowd Porter

Service era: Vietnam
Schools: Vernon-Verona-Sherrill Central (1967)

Date of death: Tuesday, June 2, 1970
Death details: Hostile, Cambodia

Source: National Archives, Syracuse Post Standard

Haight, Stephen Harold
Army Specialist 4

Stephen Harold Haight, age 20, from Cazenovia, New York, Madison county.

Parents: Harold O. Haight

Service era: Vietnam
Schools: The Manlius School (1967)
Military history: 191st Aviation Company

Date of death: Saturday, May 9, 1970
Death details: Hostile, died missing, South Vietnam

Source: National Archives, Syracuse Post Standard (1970)

Stieve, William John
Army Sergeant

William John Stieve, age 23, from Leonardsville, New York, Madison county.

Parents: Albert E. Rievers

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: Wednesday, April 29, 1970
Death details: Hostile, South Vietnam

Source: National Archives, Syracuse Post Standard (1970)

Fox, Lawrence A.
Army Specialist 4

Lawrence A. Fox, age 23, from Canestoga, New York, Madison county.

Parents: Letty M. Fox

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: Friday, March 16, 1962
Death details: Among 93 soldiers aboard a transport plane on a “secret mission” to Vietnam. Wreaths Across America in 2021: “Very little is known about what happened to the plane and its passengers, and due to the circumstance surrounding this mission, the names of those lost have not yet been added to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C.”
Cemetery: A memorial honoring the lives lost was dedicated in 2021 in Columbia Falls, Maine

Source: Atlanta Counstitution (1962), MauiNow (2021), UPI (1962)

Adams, Ronald Hunter
Army Private 1st Class

Ronald Hunter Adams, age 28, from New York, Madison county.

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. Corporal Ronald H. Adams, who joined the U.S. Army from New York, was a member of Company L, 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. He was captured on November 2, 1950, during the course of the fighting near Unsan. Prisoners from this battle were marched northwest to Sambakkol, then to Camp 5 at Pyoktong on the North Korean side of the Yalu River. Corporal Adams reached Camp 5 in late January 1951 and died at some point between February and April due to malnutrition, an infected injury, and possibly pneumonia. He was reportedly buried by other prisoners near the edge of the camp. Although North Korea returned remains from Camp 5 to the U.S. in 1954, and again in 1990-94, none of them could be positively associated with Corporal Adams. Today, Corporal Adams is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Penna, Frank Francis
Marines Reserves Private

Frank Francis Penna, age 24, from Canastota, New York, Madison county.

Parents: Michael Penna

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Saturday, November 20, 1943
Death details: On April 5, 2016, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Private Frank Francis Penna, missing from World War II. Private Penna, who entered the U.S. Marine Corps from New York, was a member of Company E, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division. In November 1943, his unit took part in the U.S. effort take control of the Japanese-held Tarawa Attol, Gilbert Island. Private Penna was with fellow members of Company E took part in the large-scale amphibious assault on the small island of Betio in the Tarawa Atoll, known as the Battle of Tarawa. The men met stiff Japanese resistance and Private Penna died sometime on the first day of battle on November 20, 1943. The exact circumstances surrounding the burial of his remains were unrecorded, and he was not identified among remains recovered from the island after the war. In 2015, the nongovernmental organization History Flight, Inc., notified DPAA that they discovered a burial site on Betio Island and recovered the remains of what they believed were 35 U.S. Marines who fought during the Battle of Tarawa. Lab analysis in conjunction with circumstantial evidence available eventually identified Private Penn from among these collective remains.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Johnson, Erford M.
Army Private

Erford M. Johnson from New York, Madison county.

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Tuesday, June 9, 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 Erford M. Johnson joined the U.S. Army from New York and was a member of Company A, 1st Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment 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 9, 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 Johnson is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

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