Timothy Joseph Green, age 22, from Little Rock, Arkansas, Pulaski county.
Parents: Jack Green
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Tuesday, February 10, 1970
Death details: Killed in action in Vietnam
Source: National Archives, Associated Press (1970)
Chambless M. Chesnutt, age 31, from Little Rock, Arkansas, Pulaski county.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Thursday, September 30, 1965
Death details: On April 8, 1985, the Central Identification Laboratory-Hawaii (CILH, now DPAA) identified the remains of Major Chambless Marshall Chesnutt, missing from the Vietnam War.
Major Chesnutt joined the U.S. Air Force from Tennessee and was a member of the 47th Tactical Fighter Squadron. On September 30, 1965, he was the aircraft commander of an F-4C Phantom II (tail number 640680) on a strike mission against enemy targets in Vietnam. As the flight regrouped to return to base after the mission, Maj Chesnutt’s Phantom was shot down by anti-aircraft fire and he was killed. Heavy enemy presence in the area prevented attempts to reach the crash site at that time. In March of 1985, the Vietnamese government returned remains to American authorities that were eventually identified as those of Maj Chesnutt.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
William Allen Parks, age 20, from Little Rock, Arkansas, Pulaski county.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Saturday, November 20, 1943
Death details: From November 20 through 23, 1943, the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Navy conducted a large-scale amphibious assault on the Japanese-held atoll of Tarawa as part of Operation Galvanic, the Allied capture of the Gilbert Islands. Located 2,500 miles southwest of Hawaii, Tarawa was a crucial stepping stone in the planned U.S. offensive across the central Pacific toward Japan. The Japanese garrison on Tarawa’s main island of Betio was well-entrenched with hundreds of bunkers and gun positions behind formidable beach obstacles. The first wave of Marines approaching the shore encountered lower-than-expected tides, forcing them to leave their landing craft on the reef and wade the hundreds of yards to the beach under intense enemy fire. The heaviest number of U.S. casualties were suffered during this phase of the landing. Eventually, rising tides allowed U.S. warships to maneuver closer to shore and support the troops with effective naval gunfire. More Marines landed on the second day, launching attacks inland from the beaches and seizing the Japanese airfield on the island. However, the enemy launched vicious counterattacks and two more days of intense fighting were needed to secure Betio. The last enemy strongpoints were taken on the morning of November 23. The fighting on Betio cost the Marines nearly 3,000 casualties but enabled U.S. forces to press further across the Pacific and yielded valuable tactical lessons that reduced U.S. losses in future amphibious landings. Private William Allen Parks Jr., who entered the U.S. Marine Corps from Arkansas, served in Company K, 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division. He was killed in action during the Battle of Tarawa on November 20 and was buried in Cemetery #11, Grave #3, Row #3, Plot #2. After the war his remains were not identified among those disinterred from the island. Private Parks is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Ernest Eugene Jr. Tucker, age 22, from Little Rock, Arkansas, Pulaski county.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Saturday, November 20, 1943
Death details: On April 29, 1982, the Central Identification Lab-Hawaii (CILHI, now DPAA) accounted for Private Ernest Eugene Tucker, missing from World War II. Private Tucker, who joined the U.S. Marine Corps from North Carolina, served with Company A, 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division. On November 20, 1943, he was killed during the amphibious assault on Betio Island, as part of the Battle of Tarawa. He was buried in a Marine cemetery on Betio, but his remains were not recovered after the war. In 1979, a construction company operating in Betio located human remains and in 1980, a CILHI investigative team excavated this site and recovered remains that were later identified as those of Private Tucker.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Clarence E. Lahnar from Arkansas, Pulaski county.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Friday, July 24, 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. Corporal Clarence E. Lahnar joined the U.S. Army from Illinois and served with the 808th Military Police Company in the Philippines during World War II. He was captured in Bataan following the American surrender and died of malaria on July 24, 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, Corporal Lahnar is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Clarence Marion Lockwood, age 21, from Little Rock, Arkansas, Pulaski county.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: December 7, 1941. Killed aboard the USS Oklahoma. Accounted for July 3, 2018
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
John Rudolph Hall, age 34, from Roland, Arkansas, Pulaski county.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Sunday, December 7, 1941
Death details: Killed aboard the USS Arizona. Remains not recovered.
Source: Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Richmond News Leader (1943), Honolulu Star Advertiser
Leland Jones, age 20, from Jacksonville, Arkansas, Pulaski 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, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Royle Bradford Luker, age 17, from Little Rock, Arkansas, Pulaski county.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Sunday, December 7, 1941
Death details: On the morning of December 7, 1941, during the attack on Pearl Harbor, the USS West Virginia (BB-48) was moored outboard from the USS Tennessee (BB-43). Five 18-inch aircraft torpedoes and two armor piercing bombs converted from 16-inch naval shells hit the West Virginia in its port side. The first bomb punctured the ship’s deck, causing it to collapse. The second was a dud, though it ignited aircraft fuel and sent billows of toxic smoke into the air. The enemy bombs and torpedoes killed and wounded many of those on board the battleship. While the extensive damage to the hull caused the West Virginia to sink, the crew’s efforts to keep it from capsizing meant the battleship could be salvaged, and it managed to return to service later in the war. Fireman Third Class Royle Bradford Luker, who entered the U.S. Navy from Arkansas, served aboard the West Virginia at the time of the Pearl Harbor attack. He was lost during the sinking and his remains have not been recovered. Today, Fireman Third Class Luker is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Honolulu Star Advertiser (2016)
Isaac Parker, age 17, from Woodson, Arkansas, Pulaski county.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Sunday, December 7, 1941
Death details: Killed aboard the USS Oklahoma. Accounted for Sept. 8, 2020
Source: Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency