Milam County Texas

Holley, Tilden Stewart
Air Force Lieutenant colonel

Tilden Stewart Holley, age 32, from Cameron, Texas, Milam county.

Parents: Tilden Sumpter Holley (1910-93) and Reba Holley (1913-93)

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: Saturday, January 20, 1968
Death details: On January 20, 1968, an F-4C Phantom II (tail number 64-0797) with two crew members took off as the lead aircraft on a two-plane nighttime armed reconnaissance mission over North Vietnam. Over the target area, the two aircraft came under fire from enemy anti-aircraft artillery and pulled off from the target. The commander of this Phantom then advised the other aircraft to hold back while he went back to survey the target area again. While holding above the cloud layer, the other aircraft saw a bright orange glow from beneath the overcast in the vicinity of (GC) 48Q XE 573 537. Radio contact with the lead Phantom was lost at this time. Search and rescue efforts, complicated by darkness and bad weather, failed to locate the missing Phantom or its crew. Ground searches were not possible since the loss area was in enemy-controlled territory, and both crew members aboard the Phantom could not be located following the incident. Captain Tilden Stewart Holley, who entered the U.S. Air Force from Texas, served in the 389th Tactical Fighter Squadron and was the aircraft commander of this Phantom at the time of its loss. He remains unaccounted for. Following the incident, the Air Force promoted Capt Holley to the rank of Lieutenant Colonel (LtCol). Today, Lieutenant Colonel Holley is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, findagrave.com

Garza, Nicolas Contreras
Army Private

Nicolas Contreras Garza from Texas, Milam county.

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Wednesday, December 20, 1950
Death details: On July 5, 1950, Task Force Smith, the first U.S. ground element to engage North Korean People’s Army (NKPA) troops, was defending a position north of Osan, South Korea. The Task Force’s goal was to delay enemy forces by blocking their movement down the road south from Suwon to Taejon, which was a major avenue of advance for the NKPA. That morning, the Task Force was engaged by a column of enemy tanks. The anti-tank weapons that the infantrymen employed were ineffective, and a large number of tanks broke through their position. Task Force Smith was forced to withdraw to the south, suffering heavy casualties in the process. Private First Class Nicolas Contreras Garza, who joined the U.S. Army from Texas, served with C Company, 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. His unit was part of Task Force Smith, and he was captured by enemy forces on July 5 and marched to the Apex prison camps in North Korea. He died of exhaustion and pneumonia at the camp at Hanjang-ni on December 20, and was buried on a hill immediately above the village. His remains were not identified among those returned to U.S. custody after the ceasefire, and he is still unaccounted for. Today, Private First Class Garza is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Merritt, Thomas A.
Private

Thomas A. Merritt from Texas, Milam county.

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Wednesday, November 4, 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 Thomas A. Merritt joined the U.S. Army from Texas and served with the 200th Coast Artillery Regiment in the Philippines during World War II. He was captured following the American surrender and forced on the Bataan Death March before he was ultimately interned at the Cabanatuan Prison Camp in Nueva Ecija Province, where PVT Merritt died of pellagra on November 4, 1942. 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 Merritt is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Bartlett, Paul Clement
Navy Machinist’s mate 2nd class

Paul Clement Bartlett, age 23, from Milam County Rockdale, Texas .

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Sunday, December 7, 1941
Death details: Killed aboard the USS Arizona. Remains not recovered.
Cemetery: Tablets of the Missing at Honolulu Memorial

Source: National Archives, American Battle Monuments Commission, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Fieseler, Rudolph
Corporal

Rudolph Fieseler, age 23, from Rockdale, Texas, Milam county.

Service era: World War I

Date of death: Tuesday, September 17, 1918
Death details: Killed in action
Cemetery: Giddings City

Source: Soldiers of the Great War, findagrave.com, findagrave.com

Fleming, Jesse L.
Private

Jesse L. Fleming, age 24, from Rockdale, Texas, Milam county.

Service era: World War I

Date of death: Tuesday, September 17, 1918
Death details: Died of wounds
Cemetery: Arlington National

Source: Soldiers of the Great War, findagrave.com

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