Timothy Brandyn Arnold from Blairs, Virginia, Pittsylvania county.
Military history: 229th Chemical
Date of death: Sunday, November 18, 2007
Death details: Regional Medical Center Danville, Virginia
Cemetery: Highland Burial Park, Danville
Source: Virginia Military Dead Database from the Library of Virginia, Richmond, Virginia.; findagrave.com
Timothy Lamont Saunders, age 32, from Ringgold, Virginia, Pittsylvania county.
Service era: War on Terror
Date of death: Thursday, October 12, 2000
Death details: Died aboard the U.S.S. Cole when suicide bombers detonated an explosive-laden boat against the ship’s port side, tearing a 40-by-40-foot hole in the hull and sending seawater gushing into the engineering compartment.
Source: Department of Defense
Kenneth B. Gentry, age 32, from Ringgold, Virginia, Pittsylvania county.
Spouse: Annette Compton Gentry
Children: Ian Gentry and Lauren Gentry
Service era: Gulf War
Date of death: Tuesday, February 26, 1991
Death details: Killed in action by friendly fire from U.S. tanks. Sgt. Edwin B. Kutz was also killed in the incident.
Cemetery: Floral Hills Memory Gardens, Danville, Virginia
Source: White House Commission on Remembrance, Gulf War Chronicles, Virginia House Resolution, Washington Post; Library of Virginia, Richmond; findagrave.com
Carlton Brandard Millner, age 18, from Keeling, Virginia, Pittsylvania county.
Parents: Harvey J. Thacker
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Saturday, February 7, 1970
Death details: Killed in action in Vietnam
Cemetery: Highland Burial Park
Source: National Archives, The Bee (1970)
Frank Ray Compton, age 30, from Pittsylvania County Chatham, Virginia .
Parents: Frank Compton
Service era: Vietnam
Schools: Chatham High (1953), graduate of State Teachers College in Missouri
Date of death: Monday, March 21, 1966
Death details: Lieutenant Frank Ray Compton entered the U.S. Navy from Virginia and was a member of Attack Squadron 94, embarked aboard the USS Enterprise (CVAN 65). On March 21, 1966, he piloted a single-seat A-4C Skyhawk (bureau number 149515, call sign “Hoboken 406”) in a flight of three aircraft on an armed reconnaissance mission against enemy targets in North Vietnam. During the mission, the flight leader reported seeing a bright flash to his rear before losing visual and radio contact with LT Compton. At the time of the incident, other aircraft crews reported seeing surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) and smoke in the direction of “Hoboken 406,” but saw no parachutes and detected no rescue beepers. LT Compton failed to return from the mission, and search operations failed to locate him. Today, Lieutenant Compton is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. His name is also inscribed along with all his fallen comrades on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC.
Source: National Archives, The Bee (1966), Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Maryland Chatten, age 24, from Pittsylvania County Java, Virginia .
Service era: Vietnam
Schools: Northside High at Gretna
Date of death: Friday, December 24, 1965
Death details: Killed in Vietnam
Source: National Archives, Danville Register and Bee (1965)
Albert Witcher, age 22, from Pittsylvania County Pittsylvania, Virginia .
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Monday, November 15, 1965
Death details: Killedin action in Vietnam
Source: National Archives, World News 91965)
William Reynolds Martin, age 29, from Pittsylvania County Callands, Virginia .
Spouse: Henrietta (Holley)
Children: Daughters, age 6 and 10 months.
Service era: Vietnam
Schools: Callands High (1955), Virginia Military Institute graduate
Date of death: Wednesday, November 18, 1964
Death details: Killed when his fighter plane was shot down over Laos.
Source: National Archives, Associated Press (1964)
Joseph F. Broome, age 22, from Danville, Virginia, Pittsylvania county.
Parents: Delmas H. Broome
Service era: Vietnam
Schools: George Washington High (1961)
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)
Joseph Mack Harper, age 18, from Pittsylvania County Danville, Virginia .
Parents: F. G. Harper
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Tuesday, November 28, 1950
Death details: On November 27, 1950, the 31st Regimental Combat Team (RCT), tasked with replacing the 5th Marine Regiment on the east side of the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea, arrived at the P’ungnyuri Inlet. That night, Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) launched a massive surprise attack against the soldiers and Marines at the inlet. The 31st RCT managed to repel the numerically superior CCF’s initial attack; however, the enemy continued to attack over the next two nights. On December 1, the 31st RCT began its withdrawal from the P’ungnyuri Inlet to Hagaru-ri. Private First Class Joseph Mack Harper, who joined the U.S. Army from Virginia, served with the Headquarters Company, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was killed in action on November 28, 1950, during the Battle of Chosin Reservoir, near the P’ungnyuri Inlet, while his unit was defending the western side of the 31st RCT’s perimeter. The tactical situation on the battlefield forced his unit to leave the bodies of the fallen at the inlet, and after the war PFC Harper’s remains were not recovered or identified. Today, Private First Class Harper 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, The Bee (1951)