Promote & Preserve stories of U.S. fallen soldiers/sailors
Andy Allen Stevens, age 29, from Tomah, Wisconsin, Monroe county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: F Co, 2D Bn, 7Th Mar, (Rct-8, 2D Mar Div), 1St Mar Div, Twentynine Palms, Ca
Date of death: Thursday, December 1, 2005
Death details: Hostile; Fallujah, Iraq
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times
Anthony Alexander Gaunky, age 19, from Sparta, Wisconsin, Monroe county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: Co A, 3D Special Troops Battalion, (Tf Band Of Brothers), Fort Campbell, Ky
Date of death: Friday, November 18, 2005
Death details: Hostile; Landstuhl, Germany
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times
Joseph William Mick, age 20, from Tomah, Wisconsin, Monroe county.
Parents: Joseph Mick Sr.
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. Corporal Joseph William Mick entered the U.S. Army from Wisconsin and served with Company M of the 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. On November 2, 1950, he was listed as missing in action after Company M came under attack during its withdrawal from the 3rd Battalion Command Post south of Unsan. His remains were not identified among those returned to U.S. custody following the war, and he is still unaccounted for. Today, Corporal Mick is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Wisconsin State Journal (1954)
Charles Alfonse Dickman from Wisconsin, Monroe county.
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Tuesday, July 11, 1950
Death details: On July 11, 1950, the U.S. Army’s 21st Infantry Regiment, which had arrived in Korea six days earlier, was placed in defensive positions near the town of Chochiwon, South Korea. The regiment was not at full strength and lacked artillery and anti-tank weapons. That day, they were attacked by North Korean forces and were forced to withdraw to avoid being surrounded, as well as to buy time until they could be reinforced and resupplied. Private First Class Charles Alfonse Dickman, who joined the U.S. Army from Wisconsin, served with M Company, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on July 11, near Chochiwon, as his unit fought the NKPA in a series of delaying actions. He was not seen to fall in battle, and he was not reported to be a prisoner of war. After the area where he was lost returned to friendly control, numerous extensive searches were conducted for his remains, but all were unsuccessful. Today, Private First Class Dickman is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
John M. Robertson, age 19, from Wisconsin, Monroe county.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Friday, November 13, 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 First Class John M. Robertson joined the U.S. Army Air Forces from Wisconsin and served with the 34th Pursuit Squadron, 24th Pursuit Group in the Philippines during World War II. He was captured following the Allied surrender and interned in the Cabanatuan Prison Camp in Nueva Ecija Province, where he died of dysentery on November 13, 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 First Class Robertson is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
DeWitt Eli Farnham, age 20, from Sparta, Wisconsin, Monroe county.
Service era: World War I
Date of death: Thursday, November 7, 1918
Death details: Died of wounds
Cemetery: Meuse Argonne American
Source: Soldiers of the Great War, findagrave.com, findagrave.com