Tag: Penobscot County Maine

Posted on

Vienneau, Ernest N.
Army 2nd Lieutenant

Ernest N. Vienneau from Maine, Penobscot county.

Service era: World War II
Military history: 340 Bombardment Squadron 97 Bombardment Group (Heavy)

Date of death: Monday, November 6, 1944
Death details: The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Air Forces 2nd Lt. Ernest N. Vienneau, 25, killed during World War II, was accounted for April 16, 2021.
In the fall of 1944, Vienneau was a pilot assigned to the 340th Bombardment Squadron, 97th Bombardment Group, 15th Air Force, based out of Amendola, Italy. On Nov. 6, the B-17 Flying Fortress bomber on which he was serving as co-pilot came under heavy anti-aircraft fire while on a mission over Maribor, Yugoslavia, in present-day Slovenia. During the barrage, a piece of flak penetrated the cockpit and struck Vienneau in the head, mortally wounding him. While the crew treated Vienneau, the pilot attempted to fly the damaged B-17 back to base. However, the aircraft could not make it and the pilot was forced to ditch off the coast of Vis Island, Croatia. The surviving 10 crew made it out of the aircraft, but Vienneau’s body could not be recovered from the rapidly sinking B-17. Following the war, his remains could not be found and recovered.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Posted on

Thurlow, Ivan W.
Army Private 1st Class

Ivan W. Thurlow, age 25, from Maine, Penobscot county.

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Monday, August 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. Private First Class Ivan W. Thurlow, who joined the U.S. Army Air Forces from Maine, served with Headquarters Squadron, 27th Bombardment Group (Light). His unit was stationed in the Philippines when the Japanese attacked the islands, and he was captured in Bataan following the Allied surrender. Private Thurlow was held at the Cabanatuan Prison Camp, where he died of dysentery and malaria on August 17, 1942. 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 Thurlow 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

Monroe, Wilbur Jr.
Army Private 1st Class

Wilbur Jr. Monroe from Maine, Penobscot county.

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Tuesday, July 14, 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 First Class Wilbur Monroe Jr. entered the U.S. Army Air Forces from Maine and served with the 48th Materials Squadron in the Philippines during World War II. He was captured in Bataan following the American surrender on April 9, 1942, and died of dysentery and malaria on July 14, 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 Monroe 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

Fowler, Almon N.
Private

Almon N. Fowler, age 22, from Greenbrush, Maine, Penobscot county.

Service era: World War I

Date of death: Friday, July 19, 1918
Death details: Died of wounds
Cemetery: Cardville in Greenbush

Source: Soldiers of the Great War, findagrave.com