Robert LaBudde Jr. Asmuth, age 21, from Montclair, New Jersey, Essex county.
Spouse: Jean (Gibson) and Robert Asmuth Sr.
Service era: Vietnam
Military history: Kent’s Regiment Home Guard/8th Infantry Reserves
Date of death: Sunday, July 26, 1970
Death details: Hostile, killed in South Vietnam
Source: National Archives, Pottsville Republican (1970)
Lewis Herbert Abrams from Montclair, New Jersey.
Date of death: November 25, 1967
Death details: On June 16, 1997, Joint Task Force–Full Accounting (JTF-FA, now DPAA) identified the remains of Colonel Lewis Herbert Abrams, missing from the Vietnam War.
Colonel Abrams entered the U.S. Marine Corps from New Jersey and served with Marine All Weather Attack Squadron 242, Marine Air Group 11, 1st Marine Air Wing. On November 25, 1967, he piloted an A-6A Intruder (bureau number 15-2612, call sign “Packard”) on a night bombing mission against the Kien An Airfield, Haiphong, North Vietnam. During the mission, the aircraft was shot down near Haiphong, killing Col Abrams, and his remains were not recovered at the time. Between 1990 and 1995, joint U.S/Vietnamese investigative teams traveled to Hai Phong Province and recovered human remains from a site associated with this loss; in 1997, U.S. analysts identified Col Abrams from these remains.
Donald William Jr. Bruch, age 24, from Essex County Montclair, New Jersey .
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Friday, April 29, 1966
Death details: On May 23, 2016, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of First Lieutenant Donald William Bruch Jr., missing from the Vietnam War. First Lieutenant Bruch joined the U.S. Air Force from New Jersey and was a member of the 333rd Tactical Fighter Squadron. On April 29, 1966, he was the pilot of the number two aircraft in a flight of four F-105D Thunderchiefs on a mission against an enemy target north of Hanoi, North Vietnam. While making his bomb run on the target, 1st Lt Bruch’s aircraft was hit by anti-aircraft fire and crashed. He was killed in the incident, and his remains could not be recovered at the time. The crash site was located in 2011, and between 2011 and 2013, three joint U.S. and Vietnamese excavations were conducted, uncovering debris and parts of the aircraft as well as human remains. Modern forensic techniques were able to identify the remains as those of 1st Lt Bruch. First Lieutenant Bruch is memorialized on 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: Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
James Luther Ricks, age 19, from Essex County Montclair, New Jersey .
Parents: Beatrice Ricks
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Friday, January 28, 1966
Death details: Hostile, killed in South Vietnam
Cemetery: Zion Church in Courtland
Source: National Archives, Suffolk News Herald (1966)
Marck Loos Jr. Tooker, age 22, from Montclair, New Jersey, Essex county.
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Friday, July 11, 1952
Death details: On July 11, 1952, an AD-3Q Skyraider (bureau number 122863) with a crew of two departed the USS Bon Homme Richard (CV-31) on a strike mission against enemy targets in Pyongyang. While diving at its target, the Skyraider was hit by anti-aircraft fire and crashed near Pyongyang. Witnesses did not see any parachutes leave the aircraft before it crashed, and the fate of the two crew members is unknown. They were not reported to be prisoners of war, and their remains have not been recovered. Aviation Electronics Technician Petty Officer First Class Marck Loos Tooker Jr., who joined the U.S. Navy from New Jersey, served with Composite Squadron 33 embarked aboard the Bon Homme Richard. He was the radar operator aboard the Skyraider when it crashed and is still unaccounted-for. Today, Petty Officer First Class Tooker is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
James William Mulligan, age 21, from Montclair, New Jersey, Essex county.
Parents: James Mulligan
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. Private James William Mulligan entered the U.S. Marine Corps from New York and served in Company C, 2nd Tank Battalion. He was killed in action during the Battle of Tarawa on November 20, 1943. Private Mulligan was buried on Betio Island, but he could not be identified among remains recovered from the island after the war. Today, Private Mulligan is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency