Aaron M. Smith, age 25, from Manhattan, Kansas, Riley county.
Service era: Afghanistan
Military history: 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 10th Mountain Division (Light Infantry), Fort Drum, New York.
Date of death: Friday, October 2, 2009
Death details: Died in Wardak Province, Afghanistan of injuries sustained when enemy forces attacked their unit using small arms fire.
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times
Henry William Linck, age 23, from Manhattan, Kansas, Riley county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: Company A, 3D Battalion, 509Th Infantry, 4 Bct, Fort Richardson, Ak
Date of death: Thursday, December 7, 2006
Death details: Hostile; Baghdad, Iraq
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times
Dean Albert Klenda, age 25, from Riley County Manhattan, Kansas .
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Friday, September 17, 1965
Death details: On March 1, 2016, the Defense POW/MIA Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Major Dean Albert Klenda, missing from the Vietnam War. Major Klenda, who joined the U.S. Air Force from Kansas, served with the 67th Tactical Fighter Squadron. On September 17, 1965, he was piloting an F-105D Thunderchief (serial number unknown) attacking enemy targets in Son La Province when his aircraft was struck by enemy ground fire. He ejected from his aircraft, but failed to separate from his ejection seat before the seat hit the ground. He died on impact and his remains were not immediately recovered. Between 1993 and 1999, investigators located the crash site and conducted several excavations but did not recover any human remains. In 2011, a Vietnamese civilian told investigators that he had discovered human remains, which he buried in a nearby field. In 2014, excavations conducted at that field site uncovered human remains, and modern forensic techniques identified them as Maj Klenda. Major Klenda is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. His name is also inscribed along with all his fallen comrades on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC.
Source: National Archives, Atchison Daily Golobe (1965), Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Claude Walter Dobson, age 20, from Manhattan, Kansas, Riley county.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Wednesday, November 22, 1944
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 Claude Walter Dobson, who joined the U.S. Marine Corps from Missouri, was a member of Company C, 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, which served in the Battle of Tarawa. On November 21, 1943, he was wounded in action and evacuated to a Navy ship for treatment. PFC Dobson was declared dead as of November 22, 1943. However, searches of the atoll following the end of hostilities were unable to locate PFC Dobson’s remains. Today, Private First Class Dobson is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Glenn Edward Powell, age 23, from Manhattan, Kansas, Riley 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 Glenn Edward Powell entered the U.S. Marine Corps from Missouri and served in Company I, 3rd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division. He was killed in action during the Battle of Tarawa on November 20, 1943. His remains were buried on Betio in Cemetery #1, but after the war his remains were not identified among those disinterred from Betio. Today, Private First Class Powell is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency