Benjamin Lewis Gilman, age 28, from Meriden, Connecticut, New Haven county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: A Company, 41St Engineer Bn, 10Th Mountain Division, Fort Drum, Ny 13602
Date of death: Thursday, January 29, 2004
Death details: Ghazni, Afghanistan
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times
Douglas Edward White, age 19, from Meriden, Connecticut, New Haven county.
Parents: Frank L. White
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Sunday, November 15, 1970
Death details: Non-hostile, South Vietnam. Died while on guard duty.
Cemetery: Walnut Grove
Source: National Archives, Meriden Record Journal (1970)
Mark Allen Lilienthal, age 21, from Meriden, Connecticut, New Haven county.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Friday, April 17, 1970
Death details: Died from injuries from a hostile explosive device while on a mission in Vietnam
Source: National Archives, Record Journal (1970)
John Reginald Shoneck from Meriden, Connecticut.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: October 18, 1966
Death details:
On October 18, 1966, an HU-16B Albatross (tail number 51-7145, call sign “Crown Bravo”?) carrying seven crew members took off from Da Nang Air Base, South Vietnam, on a search and rescue mission. Upon completing its mission, the Albatross radioed that it was returning to Da Nang from its position in the Gulf of Tonkin. This was the last contact made with the Albatross, and it failed to return to Da Nang. Search teams investigated the aircraft’s flight path, but found no sign of it or its crew. All seven of the Albatross?s crew members remain unaccounted for.
Staff Sergeant John Reginald Shoneck, who joined the U.S. Air Force from Connecticut, was a member of the 38th Aerospace Rescue and Recovery Squadron. He was a flight mechanic aboard the Albatross when it went missing, was lost with the aircraft. His remains were never recovered. Subsequent to the incident, the U.S. Air Force posthumously promoted SSgt Shoneck to the rank of Senior Master Sergeant (SMSgt). Today, Senior Master Sergeant Shoneck is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Gerald Levy, age 20, from Meriden, Connecticut .
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Sunday, January 2, 1966
Death details: Hostile, South Vietnam
Source: National Archives, Record Journal (1966)
Patrick Willmer King, age 26, from New Haven County Meriden, Connecticut .
Parents: Mrs. C. P. Higgins
Spouse: Sonja
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Sunday, December 5, 1965
Death details: Hostile, South Vietnam
Source: National Archives, Associated Press (1965)
Michael Louis Chmura, age 21, from New Haven County Meriden, Connecticut .
Parents: Benjamin Chmura
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Sunday, October 17, 1965
Death details: Killed while a passenger in a helicopter that crashed in Vietnam while returning from a combat operation.
Cemetery: Saint Stanislaus
Source: National Archives, The Journal (1965)
Emil E. Beierle from Meriden, Connecticut, New Haven county.
Service era: World War II
Military history: 35th Infantry Regiment
Date of death: Tuesday, May 1, 1945
Death details: Killed in action in Luzon, Philippines
Cemetery: Walnut Grove, Meriden
Source: National Archives, 35th Infantry Regiment Association
Donald A. Dorman, age 21, from New Haven County Meriden, Connecticut .
Parents: Lillian Dorman
Service era: World War II
Schools: Lewis High graduate
Military history: Silver Star
Date of death: Thursday, March 22, 1945
Death details: On Sept. 19, 2025, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency identified the remains of U.S. Army Air Forces Technical Sgt. Donald A. Dorman, missing from World War II. Dorman entered the U.S. Army Air Forces in Connecticut and served with 429th Bombardment Squadron, 2nd Bombardment Group (Heavy). On March 22, 1945, he was the upper turret gunner aboard a B-17G Flying Fortress aircraft, serial number 44-8191, with ten crew members, which took part in a bombing mission on oil refineries in Ruhland, Germany. While over the target area, the B-17G was hit by anti-aircraft fire, damaging the plane and prompting the pilot to fly towards Allied Soviet-held territory for an emergency landing. While over Poland, the bomber was attacked by several German fighter aircraft and was critically damaged, forcing the crew to bail out. Survivor reports indicate that the enemy fighters fired on the crew as they parachuted to the ground. Of the ten crew members, eight, including Dorman, were lost at some point during or after the crash. The two survivors, who were captured by German troops and later returned to U.S. custody, were not sure how many crew members had managed to bail out. After the war, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC) searched for and disinterred the remains of U.S. personnel missing from the European Theater. However, at the time, the AGRC investigations in the Soviet occupied zone of Europe, including Poland, were severely limited. Between 2008 and 2012, DPAA predecessor organizations undertook three field investigations into the loss of Dorman’s aircraft. These investigations determined that a B-17 “Flying Fortress” had crashed near the Polish town of Glinica in 1945. Additional investigations by DPAA followed in 2017 and 2018. Between 2019 and 2024, DPAA partnered with Alta Archaeological Consulting to plan and conduct five excavations at the site of the crash. During the excavations, teams led by Alta Archaeological Consulting recovered possible remains, which were transferred to a DPAA Laboratory for scientific analysis. There, based on the laboratory analysis, circumstantial evidence, and previous recoveries, the remains were identified as those of Dorman.
Source: Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, The Journal (1945)
Stanislaus Joseph Orzech, age 20, from Meriden, Connecticut, New Haven county.
Parents: Ludwick Orzech
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