Tag: New Hampshire New Hampshire

Posted on

Savard, Leo Paul Telesphore
Army Private

Leo Paul Telesphore Savard, age 18, from New Hampshire, Coos county.

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Friday, October 24, 1952
Death details: In late October 1952, elements of the U.S. 32nd Infantry Regiment attacked Chinese forces on Hill 598 (often referred to as the Triangle Hill Complex) near Kumhwa, North Korea. Triangle Hill was composed of three high peaks, two of which were nicknamed “Pike’s Peak” and “Jane Russell.” If U.S. troops could push the Chinese off Triangle Hill, the Chinese would have to fall back to the next high defensible position. The initial U.S. assault was effective; however, the Chinese quickly counterattacked, sending wave after wave of troops against the 32nd’s positions on Pike’s Peak and Jane Russell. Chinese forces eventually re-established themselves on Pike’s Peak and U.S. troops were unable to dislodge them. Private Leo Paul Telesphore Savard, who joined the U.S. Army from New Hampshire, served with the Medical Company, 3rd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was killed in action on October 24 during the Battle of Triangle Hill. Conditions on the battlefield prevented the immediate recovery of his body, and afterwards the enemy controlled the territory where he fell, which is now part of the Demilitarized Zone. His remains were not identified among those returned to U.S. custody after the ceasefire. Today, Private Savard is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Posted on

Frazier, Reginald Ernest
Army Private

Reginald Ernest Frazier from New Hampshire, Cheshire county.

Parents: W.H. Frazier

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. Private First Class Reginald E. Frazier joined the U.S. Army from New Hampshire and was a member of Company M, 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. On November 2, 1950, Company M was providing security for the 3rd Battalion Command Post near Unsan when it was engaged by the enemy and forced to withdraw. 3rd Battalion units became surrounded during the withdrawal, and it was during this action that PFC Frazier was taken as a prison or war (POW), though specific details regarding his capture are unknown. He was held at Camp 5 at Pyoktong. Prisoners who survived the war and were returned after being released reported that PFC Frazier died of pneumonia on or around March 31, 1951. Companions buried him near the edge of Camp 5 on a rising hill slope. He has not been identified among any remains returned to U.S. custody after the ceasefire. Today, Private First Class Frazier is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Orlando Evening Star (1951)

Posted on

Smith, Harry Sparrow
Army Sergeant

Harry Sparrow Smith, age 19, from New Hampshire, Coos county.

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 Harry Sparrow Smith, who joined the U.S. Army from New Hampshire, was a member of Company B, 2nd Chemical Mortar Battalion. Three companies of the 2nd Chemical Mortar battalion had been positioned near Unsan to provide support to the ROK infantry regiments in the area. After midnight on November 1, 1950, U.S. units in the area were ordered to withdraw to avoid encirclement by the enemy. CCF roadblocks and constant small arms fire led to heavy casualties among the withdrawing men, and a firing platoon from Company B was caught behind enemy lines and overrun during the withdrawal. Sergeant First Class Smith was among men who went missing during this action on November 2. He was never reported as a prisoner of war, and he remains unaccounted for. Today, Sergeant First Class Smith is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Posted on

Archambeault, Francis
Army Private

Francis Archambeault from New Hampshire, Rockingham county.

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Tuesday, December 4, 1945
Death details: The Battle of the Hürtgen Forest, one of the bloodiest conflicts of World War II, was fought between Allied and German forces from September 1944 to February 1945. As U.S. forces advanced eastward into Germany, the defending Germans manned “Siegfried Line” positions opposite the Belgian border. The battle grew to involve approximately 200,000 troops, with tens of thousands of casualties on both sides. American forces initially entered the area seeking to block German reinforcements from moving north toward the fighting around Aachen, the westernmost city of Germany, near the borders with Belgium and the Netherlands. In the battle’s second phase and as part of the Allied’s larger offense toward the Rhine River, U.S. troops attempted to push through the forest to the banks of Roer River. Aided by bad weather and rough terrain, German forces in the Hürtgen Forest put up unexpectedly strong resistance due to a well-prepared defense. American forces were unable to break through to the Rur before the German Ardennes offensive struck in December 1944, known as the Battle of the Bulge, which halted the eastward Allied advance until February 1945. Private Francis Archambeault, who joined the U.S. Army from New Hampshire, served with Company B, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division. On December 3, 1944, during the Battle of Hurtgen Forest, Company B was holding a defensive position near Gey, Germany, when German forces mounted a counterattack and overran the American units, including Private Archambeault’s platoon, and a chaotic retreat ensued. When Company B regrouped, Private Archambeault was missing, and attempts to locate him at the time were unsuccessful. After the war, American Graves Registration Service personnel could find no record of Private Archambeault’s burial or the location of his remains. Today, Private Archambeault is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Netherlands American Cemetery in Margraten.
Cemetery: Tablets of the Missing at Netherlands American Cemetery

Source: National Archives, American Battle Monuments Commission, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Posted on

Caron, Roger H.
Army Private 1st class

Roger H. Caron, age 19, from New Hampshire, Belknap county.

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Wednesday, January 17, 1945
Death details: On August 13, 1987, the Central Identification Laboratory–Hawaii (CILHI, now DPAA) identified the remains of Private First Class Roger H. Caron, missing from World War II. Private First Class Caron, who entered the U.S. Army from New Hampshire, served with Company D, 157th Infantry Regiment, 45th Infantry Division. On January 17, 1945, he was a machine gunner supporting rifle companies attacking German positions near the village of Rothbach in northern France. He was killed in a German counterattack, though the precise circumstances of his loss are unknown, and his body was not immediately recovered. In 1986, a French national located the remains of an American soldier in a foxhole near Reipertswiller, France. U.S. Army Memorial Affairs Activity-Europe personnel recovered these remains and analysts later identified thes remains as those of PFC Caron.

Source: National Archives

Posted on

Grigas, John F.
Army Private 1st class

John F. Grigas, age 35, from New Hampshire, Hillsborough county.

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Wednesday, September 27, 1944
Death details: Killed in action

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Posted on

Hall, George W.
Army Private

George W. Hall from New Hampshire, Merrimack county.

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Tuesday, December 1, 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 George W. Hall joined the U.S. Army Air Forces from New Hampshire and was a member of the 20th Pursuit Squadron, 24th Pursuit Group in the Philippines during World War II. He was captured in Bataan following the American surrender on April 9, 1942, and died of dysentery on December 1, 1942, at the Cabanatuan Prison Camp in Nueva Ecija Province. 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 Hall is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Posted on

Packard, Henry H.
Army Sergeant

Henry H. Packard from New Hampshire, Grafton county.

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Thursday, September 17, 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. Sergeant Henry H. Packard joined the U.S. Army from New Hampshire and was a member of the 803rd Engineers Battalion in the Philippines during World War II. He was captured in Bataan following the American surrender on April 9, 1942, and died of dysentery on September 17, 1942, at the Cabanatuan Prison Camp in Nueva Ecija Province. 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, Sergeant Packard is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.

Source: National ArchivesDefense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Posted on

Nourse, Jonas E.
Army Private

Jonas E. Nourse from New Hampshire, Grafton county.

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Monday, July 27, 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 Jonas E. Nourse joined the U.S. Army Air Forces from New Hampshire and served with the 48th Material Squadron in the Philippines during World War II. He was captured in Bataan following the American surrender on April 9, 1942, and died of malaria and cellulitis on July 27, 1942, at the Cabanatuan Prison Camp in Nueva Ecija Province. 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 of those recovered from Cabanatuan after the war. Today, Second Lieutenant Nourse is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Posted on

Bodnar, Stanley L.
Army Private 1st class

Stanley L. Bodnar, age 27, from New Hampshire, Rockingham county.

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Sunday, July 26, 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 and food and water supplied 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 Stanley L. Bodnar entered the U.S. Army Air Forces from New Hampshire and served in the 3rd Pursuit Squadron, 24th Pursuit Group in the Philippines during World War II. He was captured in Bataan following the American surrender on April 9, 1942, and died of dysentery on July 26, 1942, at the Cabanatuan Prison Camp in Nueva Ecija Province. 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 Bodnar is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
Cemetery: Manila American Cemetery

Source: National Archives, American Battle Monuments Commission, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency