Cody Montana Carver, age 19, from Haskell, Oklahoma, Muskogee county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: Company A, 1St Battalion, 15Th Infantry, 3 Bct, Fort Benning, Ga
Date of death: Tuesday, October 30, 2007
Death details: Hostile; Baghdad, Iraq
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times
Erickson Heath Petty, age 28, from Ft Gibson, Oklahoma, Muskogee county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: Hhc, 1St Bn, 35Th Armor (1Ad) Apo Ae 09034 (Baumholder, Ge)
Date of death: Monday, May 3, 2004
Death details: Hostile; Salman, Iraq
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times
Ivan Lloyd Jr. Barger, age 21, from Warner, Oklahoma, Muskogee county.
Parents: Karl Czinege
Children: Ivan L. Barger III
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Tuesday, August 25, 1970
Death details: Killed in action in Vietnam
Source: National Archives, Daily Oklahoman (1970)
James Arvil Green, age 20, from Boynton, Oklahoma, Muskogee county.
Spouse: Claretta D. Green
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Thursday, June 18, 1970
Death details: Killed in action in Vietnam
Source: National Archives, Daily Oklahoman (1970)
Gary Lee Buckett from Muskogee, Oklahoma, Muskogee county.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Monday, March 16, 1970
Source: National Archives
Tommy Dale Cooper, age 21, from Haskell, Oklahoma, Muskogee county.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Sunday, March 15, 1970
Death details: Killed when his military vehicle overturned during combat. He had less than 45 days remaining to serve in the Army.
Cemetery: Haskell City
Source: National Archives, Tulsa World (1970)
Jerry Lee Chambers, age 35, from Muskogee, Oklahoma, Muskogee county.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Wednesday, May 22, 1968
Death details: On March 13, 2009, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Lieutenant Colonel Jerry Lee Chambers, missing from the Vietnam War. Lieutenant Colonel Chambers joined the U.S. Air Force from Oklahoma and was a member of the 41st Tactical Airlift Squadron. On May 22, 1968, he was the observer aboard a C-130 Hercules (serial number unknown), and one of nine crew members, on a nighttime flare mission over northern Salavan Province, Laos. The Hercules crashed during its flight, killing all nine members of the crew. Immediate search efforts were not conducted due to heavy anti-aircraft fire in the area. Between 1989 and 2008, joint Laotian, Vietnamese, and American search teams conducted field investigations and excavations in the Quang Tri Province of Vietnam, recovering aircraft wreckage and human remains. In 2009, modern forensic techniques individually identified the remains of the crew of the Hercules, including those of Lt Col Chambers.
Cemetery: Arlington National
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, findagrave.com
James Dale Watson from Oklahoma, Muskogee county.
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Saturday, December 2, 1950
Death details: On the evening of November 27, 1950, Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) launched a massive attack against the U.S. and United Nations troops stationed in the Chosin Reservoir area in northeast North Korea, resulting in a seventeen-day conflict that became known as the Battle of Chosin Reservoir. At the time of the initial CCF attack, members the U.S. Army’s 31st and 32nd Infantry Regiments were defending the area north of Sinhung-ni, on the east side of the reservoir. The defenders were overwhelmed by the numerically superior CCF, and on December 1, were forced to withdraw to friendly lines at Hagaru-ri. Chinese roadblocks from Sinhung-ni to Hagaru-ri along with the constant enemy fire from the surrounding high ground, made the withdrawal route extremely dangerous. Eventually, the column was broken into separate segments, which the CCF attacked individually. Many men were lost or captured during the moving battle, with survivors reaching friendly lines in Hagaru-ri on December 2 and 3.
Sergeant James Dale Watson entered the U.S. Army from Oklahoma and was a member of the Heavy Mortar Company, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He went missing in action on December 2 during the fighting around the Chosin Reservoir, although the exact details surrounding his loss are unknown. Some ancillary information indicates he might have been a prisoner of war but it is believed to be confusion with another well-known POW named Watson. Sergeant Watson’s remains were not identified among those returned to U.S. custody after the ceasefire, and he is still unaccounted-for. Today, Sergeant Watson is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Theodore E. Lowery, age 22, from Briartown, Oklahoma, Muskogee county.
Parents: Emmett Lowery
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. Sergeant First Class Theodore E. Lowery joined the U.S. Army from Oklahoma and served with the Headquarters Company of the 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. On November 1, 1950, Headquarters Company was near Unsan with the 2nd Battalion when it came under heavy fire and received orders to withdraw. Eventually surrounded and besieged by CCF, some members of the company became trapped and dug inside foxholes or behind bunkers . Sergeant First Class Lowery was lost during the withdrawal; one veteran recalled being told by others in the units who saw him badly wounded while the units were withdrawing just south-southeast of Unsan. He was never reported as a prisoner of war nor was he identified among the remains returned to U.S. custody after the ceasefire. Today, Sergeant First Class Lowery is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Stigler New Sentinel (1950)
William D. Thompson from Muskogee County Muskogee, Oklahoma .
Parents: W. C. Thompson
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Sunday, July 5, 1942
Death details: On July 5, 1942, a C-53B Skytrooper (serial number 41-20048) took off from Elmendorf Army Air Force Base, Alaska, on a transport mission to Seattle, Washington, carrying four crew members and twelve passengers. Approximately twenty-five miles northeast of Fort Randall, Cold Bay, Alaska, the aircraft crashed into a mountain on Kodiak Island in the Seward Peninsula off of northwest Alaska. All sixteen men on board died in the crash, but only the remains of six were recovered. The other ten occupants remain unaccounted for. Second Lieutenant William D. Thompson, who joined the U.S. Army Air Forces from Oklahoma, was a member of the 54th Fighter Squadron, 55th Fighter Group. He was a passenger aboard this Skytrooper when it crashed during its transport mission to Seattle. His remains were not recovered following the crash. Today, Second Lieutenant Thompson is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency