Mark Charles Palmateer, age 38, from Poughkeepsie, New York, Dutchess county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: Troop B, 2D Squadron, 101St Cavalry, Jamestown, Ny
Date of death: Thursday, June 26, 2008
Death details: Hostile; Vicinity Of Fob Shank, Afghanistan
Source: Department of Defense, Legacy
Howard Elliott O’Dell, age 30, from Dutchess County Poughkeepsie, New York .
Parents: Raymond C. O’Dell
Spouse: Married
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Wednesday, July 19, 1950
Death details: On April 29, 2025, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of U.S. Air Force Capt. Howard Elliot Odell, missing from the Korean War. Odell entered the service from New York and was a member of the 36th Fighter-Bomber Squadron, 8th Fighter-Bomber Group. On July 19, 1950, he piloted an F-80C Shooting Star (tail number 49-698A) on a combat mission near Taejon, Republic of Korea. Odell led a four-aircraft flight to intercept enemy aircraft attacking the Taejon Airstrip. During the engagement, Odell’s F-80C sustained damage and he was forced to attempt a landing at Taejon, but the aircraft struck the ground and exploded. Odell’s remains could not be recovered at the time because the airstrip was also under ground attack, and U.S. forces withdrew from the area the next day. On Oct. 3, 1950, after the area was again under Allied control, U.S. personnel recovered a set of remains near Taejon. The remains could not be identified with the technology available at the time and were interred at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP) in Honolulu, Hawaii. In November 2019, the DPAA disinterred this set of remains as part of an ongoing project to identify Korean War Unknowns buried at the NMCP. The remains were transferred to the DPAA laboratory where scientists used modern forensic techniques to identify Odell.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
James Bernard Johnson, age 19, from Poughkeepsie, New York, Dutchess county.
Parents: Vear Johnson
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Saturday, November 20, 1943
Death details: On April 18, 2016, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Private First Class James Bernard Johnson, missing from World War II. Private First Class Johnson, who joined the U.S. Marine Corps from New York, was a member of Company K, 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division. He was killed in action on November 20, 1943, during the assault on the Japanese-controlled Betio Island of Tarawa Atoll, Gilbert Islands, and his remains were not recovered at the time. In 2015, the non-governmental organization History Flight, in partnership with DPAA, excavated a burial site on Betio Island and recovered remains of U.S. Marines who fought during the battle in November 1943, and advances in forensic techniques led to the identification of PFC Johnson from among these remains.
Cemetery: Arlington National (buried May 31, 2016)
Source: National Archives, Department of Defense, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency