Jonathan Williams Bowling, age 23, from Stuart, Virginia, Patrick county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: C Co, 4Th Ceb, 4Th Mar Div, Lynchburg, Va
Date of death: Wednesday, January 26, 2005
Death details: Hostile; Hadithah, Iraq
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times
Joel G. Williams, age 22, from Patrick County Meadows of Dan, Virginia .
Parents: Joel Williams
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Sunday, March 5, 1944
Death details: On July 9, 2001, the Central Identification Laboratory Hawaii (CILHI, now DPAA) identified the remains of Staff Sergeant Joel G. Williams, missing from World War II. Staff Sergeant Williams entered the U.S. Army Air Forces from Virginia and served in the 319th Bombardment Squadron, 90th Bombardment Group (Heavy). On March 5, 1944, he was the engineer aboard a B-24D Liberator (serial number 42-41135) nicknamed “Cold Steel” that took off from Nadzab, New Guinea, for a bombing mission over Hansa Bay, New Guinea. The bomber was not heard from after takeoff. Cold Steel crashed for unknown reasons, killing SSG Williams and the other nine crew members aboard. The aircraft remained missing until a group of young explorers found its wreckage in 1979 near the village of Tauta, high in the Finisterre Mountains of Papua New Guinea. The site was rediscovered and reported to CILHI in 1989. Later that year a CILHI team investigated the wreckage and recovered human remains. CILHI scientists used laboratory analysis and circumstantial evidence to identify SSG Williams.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Martinsville Bulletin (1944)
Leonidas Camden Jr. Dickerson from Patrick County Stuart, Virginia .
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Friday, October 31, 1941
Death details: Died in the sinking of the destoryer USS Reuben James
Source: Los Angeles Times (1941), Richmond Times Disptach (1941)