Promote & Preserve stories of U.S. fallen soldiers/sailors
Michael A. Cinco, age 28, from Mercedes, Texas.
Service era: Afghanistan
Mlitary history: Air Force Office of Special Investigations, 11th Field Investigation Squadron, Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas
Date of death: Monday, December 21, 2015
Death details: Died of wounds suffered when patrol was attacked by a suicide bomber on a motorcycle near Bagram Air Base Afghanistan
John Doss Allen, age 18, from Mercedes, Texas, Hidalgo county.
Parents: Cora May Allen
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Sunday, May 24, 1970
Death details: Died from battle wounds in Quang Nam Province, Vietnam
Cemetery: Restlawn at La Feria
Source: National Archives
Manuel Nieves Vela, age 26, from Mercedes, Texas, Hidalgo county.
Parents: Nieves A. Vela
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 Manuel Nieves Vela entered the U.S. Army from Texas and served with the Headquarters and Headquarters Company (HHC) of the 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. On November 1, 1950, HHC was near Unsan with the 2nd Battalion when it came under heavy attack and received orders to withdraw. Nearly surrounded and besieged by CCF, withdrawing American units became trapped and some units dug inside foxholes or behind bunkers. It was during this chaotic fighting that PFC Vela became missing, though specific details surrounding his loss are unknown. His name has not appeared on POW records and his remains have not been accounted for since the ceasefire. Today, Private First Class Vela is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Harlingen Valley Morning Star (1950)