Piscataquis county Maine

Brainard, John R.
Army Captain

John R. Brainard, age 26, from Dover-Foxcroft, Maine, Piscataquis county.

Spouse: Emily Brainard

Service era: Afghanistan
Schools: Foxcroft Academy (2004), University of Maine (2008)
Military history: 12th Combat Aviation Brigade, Ansbach-Katterbach, Germany

Date of death: Monday, May 28, 2012
Death details: Died in Kabul, Afghanistan of wounds sustained when his helicopter crashed. Also killed was Chief Warrant Officer Five John C. Pratt.

Source: Department of Defense, Facebook, Bangor Daily News, Military Times

Dority, Richard Clair
Army Sergeant

Richard Clair Dority, age 19, from Dover-Foxcroft, Maine, Piscataquis county.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: Monday, November 2, 1970
Death details: On November 2, 1970, the landing craft utility (LCU) 63 departed Da Nang carrying a crew of eleven on a cargo mission to Tan My, South Vietnam. On November 3, helicopter pilots saw the craft capsized, south of Tan My port. An initial search of the craft found no sign of any if its crew. On November 6, the remains of one of LCU 63’s crew members were found in a life jacket near Cu Lao Island. Further attempts to salvage LCU 63 and locate its crew failed to locate any survivors or remains. Eventually, the remains of another member of the LCU 63’s crew were located and identified; however, the other nine men are still unaccounted for. Sergeant Richard Clair Dority, who joined the U.S. Army from Maine, was a member of 329th Transportation Company (Heavy Boat), 5th Transportation Command. He was a crew member aboard LCU 63 when it capsized, and was lost with during the incident. His remains were not recovered. Today, Sergeant Dority is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. Based on all information available, DPAA assessed the individual’s case to be in the analytical category of Non-recoverable.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Fox, Colby George
Army Private

Colby George Fox, age 18, from Piscataquis County Guilford, Maine .

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Thursday, November 30, 1950
Death details: By mid-November 1950, U.S. and Allied forces had advanced to within approximately sixty miles of the Yalu River, the border between North Korea and China. On November 25, approximately 300,000 Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) “volunteers” suddenly and fiercely counterattacked after crossing the Yalu. The 2nd Infantry Division, located the farthest north of units at the Chongchon River, could not halt the CCF advance and was ordered to withdraw to defensive positions at Sunchon in the South Pyongan province of North Korea. As the division pulled back from Kunu-ri toward Sunchon, it conducted an intense rearguard action while fighting to break through well-defended roadblocks set up by CCF infiltrators. The withdrawal was not complete until December 1, and the 2nd Infantry Division suffered extremely heavy casualties in the process. Private First Class Colby George Fox, who joined the U.S. Army from Maine, was a member of Company, B, 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He went missing in action during the fighting withdrawal from Kunu-ri on November 30, but the exact circumstances surrounding his loss are unknown. He was never reported as a prisoner of war, and his remains have not been recovered or identified following the end of hostilities. Today, Private First Class Fox 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, Bangor Daily News ()1950), Associated Press (1954)

McIntyre, Robert Henry
Army Corporal

Robert Henry McIntyre, age 24, from Maine, Piscataquis county.

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Thursday, November 2, 1950
Death details: During the last week of October 1950, Republic of Korea (ROK) Army forces under the control of the U.S. Eighth Army were advancing deep in North Korean territory, approaching the Yalu River on the Chinese-Korean border. Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) struck back in a surprise attack, engaging the ROK 1st and 6th Divisions near Unsan, some sixty miles north of Pyongyang. The U.S. 1st Cavalry Division, with the 8th Cavalry Regiment in the lead, was rushed forward to reinforce the ROK units in the Unsan area. On November 1, the regiment’s 1st Battalion took up positions north of Unsan, while the 2nd Battalion moved to guard the Nammyon River valley west of town, and the 3rd Battalion was placed in reserve at the valley’s southern end. Sergeant Robert Henry McIntyre joined the U.S. Army from Maine and served with Headquarters Company of the 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. On November 2, 1950, members of Headquarters Company were operating the Command Post of the 3rd Battalion of the 8th Cavalry Regiment, near Unsan, when the Regiment came under heavy attacks and received orders to withdraw. Sergeant McIntyre was lost during fighting that took place during this withdrawal, though circumstances surrounding his loss are unknown. He was never reported as a prisoner of war, nor was he identified among the remains returned to U.S. custody after the ceasefire. Today, Sergeant McIntyre is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Portland Evening Express (1951)

Merrill, Willard D.
Army Private

Willard D. Merrill from Maine, Piscataquis county.

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Friday, August 28, 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 Willard D. Merrill entered the U.S. Army Air Forces from Maine and served in the 2nd Observation Squadron in the Philippines during World War II. He was captured in Bataan following the American surrender on April 9, 1942, and died of malaria on August 28, 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 Merrill 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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