Robert Gene O’Connell, age 20, from Camp Springs, Maryland, Prince George’s county.
Parents: Russell A. O’Connell
Service era: Vietnam
Schools: Crossland High (1968)
Date of death: Sunday, February 15, 1970
Death details: South Vietnam
Cemetery: Hostile, killed
Source: National Archives, Baltimore Sun (1970)
William Lewis Jr. Kieffer, age 25, from Greenbelt, Maryland, Prince George’s county.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Wednesday, February 11, 1970
Death details: On June 1, 2010, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC, now DPAA) identified the remains of Lieutenant Colonel William Lewis Kieffer Jr., missing from the Vietnam War. Lieutenant Colonel Kieffer entered the U.S. Air Force from Maryland and was a member of the 1st Special Operations Squadron. On February 11, 1970, he piloted an A1-E Skyraider (tail number unknown) on a combat mission over Laos. During an attack run against enemy troops threatening friendly ground forces in Xiangkhoang Province, his aircraft was hit by small arms fire and crashed, killing Lt Col Kieffer. Friendly forces in the area were unable to reach the crash site due to heavy enemy fire, and they could not recover Lt Col Kieffer’s remains at that time. However, between 1993 and 2009, joint U.S./Laotian investigative teams recovered human remains, aircraft wreckage, crew-related equipment, and personal effects from the crash site, and modern forensic technology was able to identify Lt Col Kieffer from among the remains.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Larry Eugene Dyer, age 19, from Oxon Hill, Maryland, Prince George’s county.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Wednesday, February 4, 1970
Death details: South Vietnam
Cemetery: Hostile, killed
Source: National Archives, Terre Haute Tribune (1970)
Clifford Craig Jr. Blend, age 20, from Brandywine, Maryland, Prince George’s county.
Parents: Clifford C. Bland
Service era: Vietnam
Schools: Gwynn Park High (1967), Frostburg State College
Date of death: Tuesday, January 6, 1970
Death details: Killed in action in South Vietnam
Source: National Archives, Baltimore Sun (1970)
Frank Melvin Jr. Dunsmore, age 21, from Lanham, Maryland, Prince George’s county.
Service era: Vietnam
Schools: Wheaton (Maryland) High (1967)
Date of death: Friday, January 2, 1970
Death details: Killed in South Vietnam when a night defensive patrol came under attack.
Source: National Archives, Philadelphia Daily News (1970)
Charles L. Decoteau, age 18, from Marlboro, Maryland, Prince George’s county.
Parents: Mrs. Edgar M. Denning
Service era: Vietnam
Schools: Graduate of Edwards Military Institute in Salemburg, North Carolina
Date of death: Wednesday, November 8, 1961
Death details: Among 77 killed in Richmond, Virginia when the engines aboard their plane failed and it crashed into marshland. The crew and passengers died from carbon monoxide poisoning. The flight was enroute from Baltimore to Columbia, South Carolina.
Cemetery: Mountain View in San Bernardino, California
Source: Associated Press (1961), findagrave.com, Baltimore Evening Sun (1961)
Joseph H. Ford from Landover, Maryland, Prince George’s county.
Service era: World War I
Date of death: Wednesday, October 2, 1918
Death details: Killed in action
Cemetery: Arlington National
Source: Soldiers of the Great War, findagrave.com