Paulding County Georgia

Estopinal, Jason H.
Marines Private 1st class

Jason H. Estopinal, age 21, from Dallas, Georgia, Paulding county.

Parents: Jason Estopinal

Service era: Afghanistan
Schools: East Paulding High (2007)
Military history: 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, II Marine Expeditionary Force, Camp Lejeune, North Carolina. Enlisted February 2009.

Date of death: Monday, February 15, 2010
Death details: Died when an improvised explosive device detonated during his patrol in Helmand Province, Afghanistan.

Source: Department of Defense, Rome New Tribune, WTVD, WRCB, Military Times

King, Ryan Charles
Army Specialist

Ryan Charles King, age 22, from Dallas, Georgia, Paulding county.

Service era: Iraq
Military history: Company B, Special Troops Battalion, 3Rd Brigade, 1St Id, Fort Hood, Texas

Date of death: Friday, May 1, 2009
Death details: Hostile; Baf Macp, Afghanistan

Source: Department of Defense, Military Times

Dingler, Joshua Paul
Army Specialist

Joshua Paul Dingler, age 19, from Hiram, Georgia, Paulding county.

Service era: Iraq
Military history: Hhc, 1St Battalion, 108Th Armor (Tf Baghdad), Calhoun, Ga

Date of death: Monday, August 15, 2005
Death details: Al Mahmudiyah, Iraq

Source: Department of Defense

Estes, Nedward Clyde Jr.
Navy Fireman

Nedward Clyde Jr. Estes, age 21, from Hiram, Georgia, Paulding county.

Parents: Nedward C. Estes Sr.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: Friday, January 16, 1970
Death details: Died in Vietnam

Source: National Archives, Atlanta Constitution (1970)

Fuller, Johnny Thomas
Army Private 1st class

Johnny Thomas Fuller, age 20, from Dallas, Georgia, Paulding county.

Service era: Vietnam
Military history: 35th Infantry Regiment

Date of death: Monday, September 30, 1968
Death details: Silver Star citation: For gallantry in action while engaged in military operations against an armed hostile force in the Republic of Vietnam. Private First Class Fuller distinguished himself while serving as a Rifleman with C, 2/35th Infantry. On 30 September 1968, Private First Class Fuller’s platoon was conducting combat operations north of Duc Lap. As his squad, the point element, was maneuvering along the wood line of an adjacent highway it suddenly received intense small arms, machine gun, mortar, and B-40 rocket fire to its front and right flank from an estimated NVA Company. Immediately, Private First Class Fuller engaged the enemy with accurate rifle fire in an attempt to momentarily break contact and allow his squad to withdraw. As the fight intensified Private First Class Fuller, knowing that the numerically superior enemy forces would soon overcome him, elected to hold his position to allow his comrades to withdraw under his protective fire. It was while defending this position that he was mortally wounded. Private First Class Fuller’s bravery in the face of extreme danger was instrumental in preventing further friendly casualties. His courageous acts, preserving concern for the welfare of his fellow soldiers, and exemplary devotion to duty are in keeping with the highest traditions of the military service and reflect great credit upon himself, his unit, and the United States Army.

Cemetery: White Oak in Dallas, Georgia

Source: National Archives, 35th Infantry Regiment Association

McClure, Franklin D.
Army Specialist 4

Franklin D. McClure, age 27, from Dallas, Georgia, Paulding county.

Parents: John C. McClure

Service era: Vietnam
Schools: Dallas High graduate

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)

Rodeheaver, Carl D.
Army Private

Carl D. Rodeheaver from Georgia, Paulding county.

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Tuesday, June 9, 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 Carl D. Rodeheaver entered the U.S. Army from Georgia and served with the 454th Ordnance Company in the Philippines during World War II. He was captured in Bataan following the American surrender on April 9, 1942, and died of cerebral malaria on June 20, 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 Rodeheaver is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

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