Raul Mercado, age 21, from Monrovia, California, Los Angeles county.
Service era: Iraq
Schools: Monrovia High
Military history: 2D Maint Bn, (Clb-8), 2D Mlg, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina; Enlisted in 2004
Date of death: Saturday, January 7, 2006
Death details: Killed by a roadside bomb while on patrol near the village of Karmah, Iraq
Source: Department of Defense, Los Angeles Times, Military Times
Raymond Frank, age 45, from Monrovia, California, Los Angeles county.
Service era: Operation Restore Hope (Somalia)
Schools: Willi Frank
Date of death: Sunday, October 3, 1993
Death details: Killed during a 16 hour fight with supporters of Somali warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid. Two U.S. Blackhawk helicopters were brought down
Source: White House Commission on Remembrance, findagrave.com, Tampa Bay Times
John P. Cooper, age 37, from Monrovia, California, Los Angeles county.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Wednesday, March 7, 1945
Death details: He was a crew member of an M4 Sherman tank. His unit was engaged in battle with German forces at Pelligen, Germany when his tnak was struck by an enemy shoulder-fired rocket. Witnesses saw Cooper escape the tank, but he was never seen or heard from again. The Germans never reported him as prisoner. He was accounted for June 21, 2022.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Monrovia News Post (1945)
Gilmore Vanhorn Rix, age 19, from Monrovia., California, Los Angeles county.
Parents: Lenna Mary Newman
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Saturday, November 20, 1943
Death details: From November 20 through 23, 1943, the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Navy conducted a large-scale amphibious assault on the Japanese-held atoll of Tarawa as part of Operation Galvanic, the Allied capture of the Gilbert Islands. Located 2,500 miles southwest of Hawaii, Tarawa was a crucial stepping stone in the planned U.S. offensive across the central Pacific toward Japan. The Japanese garrison on Tarawa’s main island of Betio was well-entrenched with hundreds of bunkers and gun positions behind formidable beach obstacles. The first wave of Marines approaching the shore encountered lower-than-expected tides, forcing them to leave their landing craft on the reef and wade the hundreds of yards to the beach under intense enemy fire. The heaviest number of U.S. casualties were suffered during this phase of the landing. Eventually, rising tides allowed U.S. warships to maneuver closer to shore and support the troops with effective naval gunfire. More Marines landed on the second day, launching attacks inland from the beaches and seizing the Japanese airfield on the island. However, the enemy launched vicious counterattacks and two more days of intense fighting were needed to secure Betio. The last enemy strongpoints were taken on the morning of November 23. The fighting on Betio cost the Marines nearly 3,000 casualties but enabled U.S. forces to press further across the Pacific and yielded valuable tactical lessons that reduced U.S. losses in future amphibious landings. Pharmacist’s Mate Third Class Gilmore Vanhorn Rix entered the U.S. Navy from Los Angeles, California and served in Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division. He was killed in action on November 20 during the Battle of Tarawa. PHM3 Rix was buried on Betio, but after the war his remains were not identified among those disinterred from the island. Pharmacist’s Mate Third Class Rix is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency