Danny Bruce II Daniels, age 23, from Varney, West Virginia, Mingo county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: 630Th Mp Co, V Corps, Bamberg, Ge Apo Ae 09139
Date of death: Tuesday, July 20, 2004
Death details: Hostile; Baghdad, Iraq
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times
Michael Shannon Justice, age 21, from Matewan, West Virginia, Mingo 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
Robert Onnie Jr. Goodman, age 20, from Mingo County Gilbert, West Virginia .
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Sunday, October 3, 1971
Source: National Archives
Marvin Blair Jr. Stuart, age 20, from Williamson, West Virginia, Mingo county.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Saturday, July 24, 1971
Death details: Non-hostile death in Southeast Asia
Source: National Archives, Associated Press (1971)
Randall Lee Ellis, age 20, from Justice, West Virginia, Mingo county.
Spouse: Maxine A. Ellis
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Monday, November 9, 1970
Source: National Archives, Associated Press (1970)
Lawrence Buford Prater, age 37, from Williamson, West Virginia, Mingo county.
Parents: Jackson and Corbie (Cook) Prater
Service era: Vietnam
Military history: 35th Infantry Regiment
Date of death: Friday, October 27, 1967
Death details: Killed by booby trapped grenade, Quang Ngai Province
Cemetery: Mount View Memory Gardens, Williamson
Source: National Archives, 35th Infantry Regiment Association
Edward Milton Parsley, age 33, from Mingo County Naugatuck, West Virginia .
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Thursday, February 3, 1966
Death details: On June 7, 2004, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC, now DPAA) identified the remains of Chief Master Sergeant Edward Milton Parsley, missing from the Vietnam War. Chief Master Sergeant Milton entered the U.S. Air Force from West Virginia and served with the 310th Air Commando Squadron. On February 3, 1966, he was the loadmaster aboard a C-123B Provider (tail number 55-4537) on a mission along the border of Laos and South Vietnam. While over Quang Tri Province, radio contact was lost with the aircraft and it crashed for unknown reasons, killing CMSgt Parsley. Aerial searches did not locate the crash site, and CMSgt Parsley’s remains were not recovered at the time. From 2000 to 2003, joint U.S./Vietnamese investigative teams traveled to the crash site and recovered human remains and aircraft wreckage correlating to this loss; in 2004, U.S. investigators were able to identify CMSgt Parsley from those remains. Chief Master Sergeant Parsley is memorialized in 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, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Charles Henry Grubb, age 21, from War Eagle, West Virginia, Mingo county.
Service era: Korea
Military history: Company M, 3rd Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division.
Date of death: Friday, December 1, 1950
Death details: He was reported missing in action on Dec. 1, 1950, in the vicinity of the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea, when his unit was attacked by enemy forces. Following the battle, his remains could not be recovered. Accounted for August 27, 2019
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Tunis G. Banfield from West Virginia, Mingo county.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Wednesday, December 6, 1944
Death details: Killed in action
Cemetery: Zachary Taylor National
Source: National Archives, grave marker
Joseph E. Kennedy from West Virginia, Mingo county.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Wednesday, November 8, 1944
Death details: The Battle of the Hürtgen Forest, one of the bloodiest conflicts of World War II, was fought between Allied and German forces from September 1944 to February 1945. As U.S. forces advanced eastward into Germany, the defending Germans manned “Siegfried Line” positions opposite the Belgian border. The battle grew to involve approximately 200,000 troops, with tens of thousands of casualties on both sides. American forces initially entered the area seeking to block German reinforcements from moving north toward the fighting around Aachen, the westernmost city of Germany, near the borders with Belgium and the Netherlands. In the battle’s second phase and as part of the Allied’s larger offense toward the Rhine River, U.S. troops attempted to push through the forest to the banks of Roer River. Aided by bad weather and rough terrain, German forces in the Hürtgen Forest put up unexpectedly strong resistance due to a well-prepared defense. American forces were unable to break through to the Rur before the German Ardennes offensive struck in December 1944, known as the Battle of the Bulge, which halted the eastward Allied advance until February 1945. Private Joseph E. Kennedy, who joined the U.S. Army in West Virginia, was a member of Company L, 112th Infantry Regiment, 28th Infantry Division, during the Battle of Hurtgen Forest. On November 4, 1944, elements of the German 89th Division engaged in a massive counterattack on U.S. forces positioned near Schmidt, which included Company L. The size and strength of the attacking German force overwhelmed the Americans, forcing a hasty and chaotic retreat. Company L was unable to regroup until November 8, at which time Private Kennedy was missing in action and could not be located following the incident. He remains unaccounted-for. Today, Private Kennedy is memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing at Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery in Hombourg, Belgium.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency