Ernest Eugene Utt Jr., age 38, from Hammond, Illinois, Piatt county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: B Battery, 1St Batallion, 82Nd Field Artillery, 1St Cd, Fort Hood, Tx 76544
Date of death: Sunday, June 27, 2004
Death details: Hostile; Baghdad, Iraq
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times
Newton Ray Plummer, age 21, from Bement, Illinois, Piatt county.
Service era: Vietnam
Military history: 35th Infantry Regiment
Date of death: Sunday, December 1, 1968
Death details: Killed by small arms fire, Quang Duc Province
Source: National Archives, 35th Infantry Regiment Association
Donald Ray Wiest, age 21, from Piatt County Cerro Gordo, Illinois .
Parents: Lewis B. Wiest Sr.
Service era: Vietnam
Schools: Cerro Gordo High (1963)
Date of death: Tuesday, August 24, 1965
Death details: Killed when the transport plane he was aboard crashed in Hong Kong.
Source: National Archives, Decatur Daily Review 91965)
Richard Milligan, age 19, from Piatt County Lincoln, Illinois .
Parents: Mary M. Spurling
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Monday, July 16, 1951
Death details: On February 5, 1951, Allied forces in Korea launched an offensive against North Korean and Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) north of Wonju. Republic of Korea units and the 38th Infantry Regiment and supporting artillery units, including the 15th and 503rd Field Artillery Battalions, and the 82nd Antiaircraft Artillery and Automatic Weapons Battalion, initially met light resistance on their drive to the north. On February 11, the CCF launched an aggressive counteroffensive that caused the Allies to withdraw back southward. However, the CCF had established a series of roadblocks on the road to the south, forcing the Allies to fight their way back to friendly lines. Corporal Richard Milligan entered the U.S. Army from Illinois and was a member of B Company, 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. On February 12, 1951, he was taken captive at a roadblock during the 38th Infantry Regiment’s withdrawal to the south. After his capture, he was marched with other prisoners of war (POWs) to holding camps in North Korea. Corporal Milligan eventually arrived at the Changson POW Camp, where he died of unknown causes on July 16, 1951. U.S. investigators have not been able to access the area to search for his burial site, and he has not been associated with any of the remains later returned to U.S. custody after the war. Today, Corporal Milligan is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. His name is also inscribed on the Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC, which was updated in 2022 to include the names of the fallen.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Illinois State Register (1953)
George Delmar Taylor, age 23, from Deland, Illinois, Piatt county.
Service era: Korea
Military history: 35th Infantry Regiment
Date of death: Tuesday, November 28, 1950
Death details: Killed in action, North Korea
Source: National Archives, 35th Infantry Regiment Association
Harry S. Sutphen from Illinois, Piatt county.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Tuesday, February 22, 1944
Death details: On February 22, 1944, a B-25G Mitchell (serial number 42-64779) with a crew of seven took off from Kurmitola, India, for a bombing mission against railroads in Monywa, Burma. While en route to the target, another aircraft crew on the mission witnessed the Mitchell catch fire and crash into a field on the banks of the Chindwin River, near Letpadaung, Burma. Witnesses did not report seeing any signs of survivors, and enemy presence in the area prevented searches of the crash site at the time. Post-war investigations discovered that, following the crash, Japanese soldiers had commanded Burmese locals to search and strip the wreckage of the B-25G and bury the bodies of the crew. Subsequent American search efforts to locate the remains of the crew from the crash site were unsuccessful, and all seven are still missing. Captain Harry S. Sutphen entered the U.S. Army Air Forces from Illinois and was a member of the 490th Bombardment Squadron, 344th Bombardment Group (Medium). He was the pilot of this Mitchell when it went down on February 22, 1944. He was killed in the crash and his body was reportedly buried by Japanese forces when the plane wreckage was stripped, but he was not recovered or identified by subsequent U.S. recovery efforts. Today, Captain Sutphen is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
Source: National Archives
Joseph Philip Jr. Steffan, age 30, from Cicero, Illinois, Piatt county.
Parents: Joe Steffan Sr.
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, The Life (1941)