Promote & Preserve stories of U.S. fallen soldiers/sailors
Kyle R. Rookey, age 23, from Oswego, New York, Oswego county.
Service era: Afghanistan
Military history: 4th Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 4th Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colorado.
Date of death: Sunday, September 2, 2012
Death details: Died in Jalalabad, Afghanistan from a non-combat related incident.
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times
Kyle R. Schneider, age 23, from Phoenix, New York, Oswego county.
Parents: Richard Schneider and Lorie Schneider
Service era: Afghanistan
Schools: Baker High graduate
Military history: 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Enlisted in March 2008.
Date of death: Thursday, June 30, 2011
Death details: Died while conductin combat operations in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.
Cemetery: Arlington National
Source: Department of Defense, Syracuse Post Standard
Kenneth Walter Haines, age 25, from Fulton, New York, Oswego county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: Battery B, 2D Battalion, 82D Field Artillery, 3 Bct, Fort Hood, Tx
Date of death: Sunday, December 3, 2006
Death details: Hostile; Balad, Iraq
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times
Michael Hadwin Alsever, age 22, from Pennellville, New York, Oswego county.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Sunday, December 6, 1970
Death details: Hostile, South Vietnam
Source: National Archives
Peter Joe Wilson, age 32, from Pulaski, New York, Oswego county.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: October 19, 1970
Death details: Staff Sergeant (SSG) Peter Joe Wilson entered the U.S. Army from New York and was a member of Command and Control Central, 5th Special Forces Group. On October 19, 1970, he was the team leader of a long range joint reconnaissance patrol that encountered an enemy ground force in Attapeu Province, Laos, in the vicinity of (GC) YB 618 135. The ensuing attacks forced his unit to withdraw, and as they attempted to break contact with the enemy SSG Wilson was observed bringing up the rear of the patrol while helping a wounded soldier. After eventually failing to break contact, SSG Wilson instructed the team to head in an easterly direction, but he soon became separated from the patrol. He was later heard on his emergency radio calling mayday, followed by gunfire and enemy voices in the background. No further radio contact could be established with SSG Wilson, and he was not seen or heard from again. An extensive air search was conducted but failed to locate him, and he remains unaccounted for. Subsequent to the incident, and while carried in the status of missing in action (MIA), the U.S. Army promoted Staff Sergeant Wilson to the rank of Sergeant First Class (SFC). Today, Sergeant First Class Wilson is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
George Aikman Finter, age 39, from Fulton, New York, Oswego county.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Saturday, February 28, 1970
Death details: Non-hostile, South Vietnam
Source: National Archives, Syracuse Post Standard (1970)
Floyd R. Austin from New York, Oswego county.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Friday, June 16, 1944
Death details: On May 17, 1944, U.S. and Chinese troops began the siege of Myitkyina, Burma. The town, which was occupied by the Japanese, possessed a strategically vital airstrip that would allow supplies and aerial support to reach troops fighting in difficult jungle terrain of the China-Burma-India Theater. While Chinese units comprised the majority of the ground combat troops, the U.S. Army’s 5307th Composite Unit, also known as Merrill’s Marauders, was also active in the fighting. The Japanese were able to defend the town until August 3, 1944, when their remaining men were ordered to withdraw. Hard fighting, difficult terrain, and the outbreak of disease led to significant casualties among the Chinese and American units that fought to take control of the town. Private First Class Floyd R. Austin, who joined the U.S. Army from New York, served with the Headquarters Unit, 5307 Composite Unit (Provisional). He went missing on June 16, 1944, as his unit was ambushed while crossing a rice paddy en route to attacking Namkwi, a village four miles from Myitkyina. The U.S. soldiers were under heavy machine-gun and mortar fire and were unable to search for any of the missing men. After the war, U.S. military personnel searched the area but did not locate PFC Austin’s remains. Today, Private First Class Austin is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
Cemetery: Tablets of the Missing at Manila American Cemetery
Source: National Archives, American Battle Monuments Commission, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Angelo J. Caruso from New York, Oswego county.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Friday, June 16, 1944
Death details: On May 17, 1944, U.S. and Chinese troops began the siege of Myitkyina, Burma. The town, which was occupied by the Japanese, possessed a strategically vital airstrip that would allow supplies and aerial support to reach troops fighting in difficult jungle terrain of the China-Burma-India Theater. While Chinese units comprised the majority of the ground combat troops, the U.S. Army’s 5307th Composite Unit, also known as Merrill’s Marauders, was also active in the fighting. The Japanese were able to defend the town until August 3, 1944, when their remaining men were ordered to withdraw. Hard fighting, difficult terrain, and the outbreak of disease led to significant casualties among the Chinese and American units that fought to take control of the town. Private First Class Angelo J. Caruso, who joined the U.S. Army from New York, served with the Headquarters Company, 5307th Composite Unit (Provisional). He was killed in action on June 16, 1944, as his unit attacked Japanese positions near Namkwi, Burma, four miles from Myitkyina. The sudden ferocity of the Japanese assault made it impossible for U.S. troops to recover their dead and wounded. After U.S. forces gained control of the area they searched for the remains of the fallen soldiers but did not recover PFC Caruso. Searches after the close of war were unsuccessful. Today, Private First Class Caruso is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Henry J. Smith from New York, Oswego county.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Sunday, November 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 Henry J. Smith entered the U.S. Army from New York and served in Battery F, 59th Coast Artillery Regiment in the Philippines during World War II. He was captured on Corregidor Island following the American surrender on May 6, 1942, and died of beriberi on November 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 Smith is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Delmar Dale Sibley from Oswego County Oswego, New York .
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Sunday, December 7, 1941
Death details: Killed aboard the USS Arizona. Remains not recovered.
Source: National Archives, Press Sun-Belltin (1942)