Promote & Preserve stories of U.S. fallen soldiers/sailors
Thomas Randolph Wilson, age 21, from Morgantown, West Virginia, Monongalia county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: Hhc, 1St Battalion, 503D Infantry, 173D Airborne Brigade, Vicenza, It
Date of death: Monday, August 27, 2007
Death details: Hostile; Paktika, Afghanistan
Source: Department of Defense, Legacy
Daniel Frederick Mehringer, age 20, from Morgantown, West Virginia, Monongalia county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: Hhc, 82D Airborne Division, Fort Bragg, North Carolina
Date of death: Friday, April 27, 2007
Death details: Bagram, Afghanistan
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times
Gene Arden Jr Vance, age 38, from Morgantown, West Virginia, Monongalia county.
Spouse: Lisa Selmon Vance
Service era: Iraq
Military history: Support Company 2D Battalion 19Th Special Forces Group, Kenova, Wv 25530
Date of death: Sunday, May 19, 2002
Death details: Died on patrol near the village of Shkin, Afghanistan when enemy forces opened fire on the American and a group of Afghan soldiers riding in a four-wheel-drive vehicle. He died on a military helicopter evacuating him from the battlefield
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times, Washington Post
Carroll Baxter Lilly, age 31, from Morgantown, West Virginia, Monongalia county.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Friday, April 9, 1971
Death details: On April 9, 1971, an A-1H Skyraider (tail number 52-137628) took off from Nakhon Phanom Royal Thai Air Force Base, Thailand, as one of two aircraft on a search and rescue mission over Laos. A Forward Air Controller (FAC) aircraft joined the flight over the rendezvous point and the two Skyraiders then attacked suspected enemy ground positions in the area. After several passes, enemy fire from the ground positions ceased, but the pilot of the other Skyraider lost visual contact with this aircraft and believed it had crashed. A search and rescue helicopter was brought to the area and located the aircraft wreckage but failed to locate recover the pilot.
Captain Carroll Baxter Lilly entered the U.S. Air Force from West Virginia and was a member of the 1st Special Operations Squadron, 56th Special Operations Wing. He was the pilot of this Skyraider when it crashed and he remains unaccounted for.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
James Edward Messenger from Morgantown, West Virginia, Monongalia county.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Wednesday, July 15, 1970
Source: National Archives
Henry Gruner from Morgantown, West Virginia, Monongalia county.
Spouse: Frances Alice Gruner
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Monday, December 18, 1944
Death details: He was aboard the destroyer USS Hull as it operated as part of the Fast Carrier Strike Force in the Philippine Sea. On December 17, 1944, the Hull was participating in refueling operations when the ships of its fueling group were engulfed by Typhoon Cobra. The Hull lost its ability to steer amid the enormous waves and began taking on water. The Hull eventually took on too much water to stay afloat and rolled and sank shortly before noon, on December 18. Sixty-two crew members were rescued, but a little more than two-hundred crew members were lost in the sinking.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Jay Ross Jr. Manown from Morgantown, West Virginia, Monongalia county.
Parents: Jay Ross Manown Sr.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Sunday, September 10, 1944
Death details: On September 10, 1944, a TBM-1 Avenger (Bureau Number 17018), with a crew of three, took off from the USS Enterprise for a strike mission against Japanese forces in the Palau Islands. The plane was last seen spinning violently before crashing into the water a few hundred feet from Malakal Island. All three members of the crew were lost in the incident. Lieutenant Jay Ross Manown Jr. entered the U.S. Navy from Virginia and served in Torpedo Squadron 20. He was the pilot of this Avenger when it went down, and he was killed in the incident. His remains have not been recovered or identified following the war, and he is still unaccounted-for. Today, Lieutenant Manown is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
Source: National Archives