Promote & Preserve stories of U.S. fallen soldiers/sailors
Erich Scott Smallwood, age 23, from Trumann, Arkansas, Poinsett county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: Company A, 875Th Engineer Battalion, 87Th Troop Command, Jonesboro, Ar
Date of death: Saturday, May 26, 2007
Death details: Died near Balad, Iraq after an improvised explosive device blew up near his vehicle
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times, findagrave.com
Aaron Vinson, age 21, from Trumann, Arkansas, Poinsett county.
Parents: Ollie Vinson
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Monday, September 14, 1970
Death details: Died of wounds received in action
Source: National Archives, Stevens Point Journal (1970)
DeWain Douglas, age 19, from Poinsett County Trumann, Arkansas .
Parents: Gladys Douglas
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Wednesday, November 29, 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 Dewain Douglas, who joined the U.S. Army from Arkansas, was a member of the Heavy Mortar Company of the 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. On November 29, 1950, the 38th Infantry Regiment defended the area east of Kunu-ri, to cover the start of the 2nd Division’s retreat. The CCF attacked as the 38th Infantry consolidated, forcing the defenders to fight their way back to Kunu-ri before joining the withdrawal to Sunchon. A series of moving battles ensued. PFC Douglas reportedly suffered a hip wound during the breakout from Kunu-ri and was placed on a vehicle that was last seen attempting to run a CCF roadblock; however, he was reported as missing in action following this incident. PFC Douglas was never reported as a prisoner of war, and his remains have not been recovered or identified among those returned to U.S. custody after the war. Today, Private First Class Douglas 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, Associated Press (1954)
James J. Redden from Arkansas, Poinsett county.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Monday, September 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 James J. Redden entered the U.S. Army from Arizona and served with Company B of the 31st Infantry Regiment 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 September 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 Redden is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Leroy George Frank, age 25, from Harrisburg, Arkansas, Poinsett county.
Parents: Roy E. Frank
Service era: World War II
Schools: Harrisburg High
Date of death: Sunday, December 7, 1941
Death details: Killed in action
Source: National Archives Commercial Appeal (1941)
John Raymond Terrell from Harrisburg, Arkansas, Poinsett county.
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
Willie Francis, age 29, from Trumann, Arkansas, Poinsett county.
Service era: World War I
Date of death: Tuesday, October 15, 1918
Death details: Died of disease
Cemetery: Shiloh in Jonesboro
Source: Soldiers of the Great War, findagrave.com
Hallie S. Lewis, age 27, from Poinsett County Arkansas.
Service era: World War I
Date of death: Sunday, October 6, 1918
Death details: Died of accident
Source: American Battle Monuments Commission, Soldiers of the Great War