Heath Allyn McMillin, age 29, from Canandaigua, New York, Ontario county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: 105Th Military Police Company, 27 Masten Avenue, Buffalo, New York
Date of death: Sunday, July 27, 2003
Death details: Hostile; Baghdad, Iraq
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times
Reginald Owen Ziegler, age 39, from Port Gibson, New York, Ontario county.
Service era: Cold War
Date of death: Wednesday, April 19, 1989
Death details: Killed in accidental explosion aboard the USS Iowa just off Puerto Rico
Source: Iowa Daily Press, UPI
James Francis Saxby, age 24, from Holcomb, New York, Ontario county.
Parents: James E. Saxby
Spouse: Susan (Haberstroh
Children: Jennifer
Service era: Vietnam
Schools: Bloomfield Central High, LeMoyne Univeristy of Syracuse graduate
Date of death: Sunday, November 29, 1970
Death details: Ten minutes after his departure from Phan Rang Air Base, the pilot started the descent to Cam Ranh Bay via a steep valley (3 km wide and 15 km long) at an altitude of 2,700 feet via heading 30°. Shortly later, ATC instructed the crew to change heading to 100° when contact was lost. The airplane struck trees with its both wings, stalled and crashed in flames in a dense wooded area located few km from Cam Ranh Bay Airport. Rescuers arrived on the scene five days later and found two men still alive while 42 other occupants were killed. At the time of the accident, the visibility was nil due to low clouds.
Cemetery: Saint Bridget’s
Source: National Archives, Daily Messenger (1970)
Douglas Harold Silvernail, age 21, from Bloomfield, New York, Ontario county.
Parents: Harold Silvernaill Jr.
Spouse: Rebecca Krtanick Silvernail (married two days before he went overseas in June 1970)
Service era: Vietnam
Schools: Bloomfield Central (1967), Corning Community College
Date of death: Wednesday, October 7, 1970
Death details: Killed by a booby trap in South Vietnam
Source: National Archives, Democrat and Chronicle (1970)
Todd Whitney Ottman, age 21, from Victor, New York, Ontario county.
Parents: James A. Ottman and Jane Hutcherson Cummins
Service era: Vietnam
Schools: Victor Central High graduate, Oneonta State Univeristy
Military history: 196th Americal Division, Company B
Date of death: Friday, September 18, 1970
Death details: Hostile, South Vietnam
Source: National Archives, Rochester Democrat and Chronicle (1970)
Edward Charles Wood, age 21, from Ontario County Victor, New York .
Service era: Vietnam
Military history: 16th Infantry
Date of death: Sunday, May 15, 1966
Death details: Hostile, South Vietnam
Cemetery: Pittsford
Source: National Archives, Times Union (1966)
Albert S. III Knight, age 22, from Ontario County Canandaigua, New York .
Service era: Vietnam
Military history: Third Division
Date of death: Tuesday, June 22, 1965
Death details: Hostile, South Vietnam
Source: National Archives, Syracuse Herald Journal (1965)
John Francis Hudson, age 28, from Ontario County Clifton Springs, New York .
Spouse: Ronna L. Hudson
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Wednesday, April 10, 1963
Death details: Killed aboard the atomic submarine Thresher when the ship went missing 220 miles East of Cape Cod, Massachusetts
Source: ussthresher.com, Associated Press (1963), oneternalpatrol.com
Roy Edward Greenleaf, age 24, from Bloomfield, New York, Ontario county.
Parents: Elvin L. Greenleaf
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Friday, March 16, 1962
Death details: Among 93 soldiers aboard a transport plane on a “secret mission” to Vietnam. Wreaths Across America in 2021: “Very little is known about what happened to the plane and its passengers, and due to the circumstance surrounding this mission, the names of those lost have not yet been added to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C.”
Cemetery: A memorial honoring the lives lost was dedicated in 2021 in Columbia Falls, Maine
Source: Atlanta Counstitution (1962), MauiNow (2021), UPI (1962)
Lyle Firman Yonge, age 18, from Ontario County New York.
Parents: Mary Ford
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Thursday, December 21, 1950
Death details: By mid-November 1950, U.S. and Allied forces had advanced to within approximately sixty miles of the Yalu River, the border between North Korea and China. On November 25, approximately 300,000 Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) “volunteers” suddenly and fiercely counterattacked after crossing the Yalu. The 2nd Infantry Division, located the farthest north of units at the Chongchon River, could not halt the CCF advance and was ordered to withdraw to defensive positions at Sunchon in the South Pyongan province of North Korea. As the division pulled back from Kunu-ri toward Sunchon, it conducted an intense rearguard action while fighting to break through well-defended roadblocks set up by CCF infiltrators. The withdrawal was not complete until December 1, and the 2nd Infantry Division suffered extremely heavy casualties in the process. Sergeant Lyle Firman Yonge, who joined the U.S. Army from New York, served with Headquarters, Headquarters and Service Company, 2nd Engineer Combat Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division. He was captured by enemy forces on November 30, 1950, as his unit was withdrawing from Kunu-ri to Sunchon, and marched with a group of other prisoners to the Pukchin-Tarigol Valley and then to Camp 5, Pyoktong, North Korea. His death was reported on December 21, 1950, however, it is unclear whether he died at Pukchin-Tarigol or at Camp 5, so his burial location is uncertain. His remains have not been recovered. Sergeant Yonge is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Democrat and Chronicle (1954)