Promote & Preserve stories of U.S. fallen soldiers/sailors
Patrick H. Quinn, age 26, from Quarryville, Pennsylvania.
Spouse: Married
Children: Three sons
Service era: Afghanistan
Military history: 3rd Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group, Fort Carson, Colorado.
Date of death: Sunday, October 13, 2013
Death details: Died of injuries when the enemy attacked his base with small arms fire.
Source: Department of Defense, Colorado Springs Gazette, Military Times
Quentin L. Newswanger, age 27, from Quarryville, Pennsylvania, Lancaster county.
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Tuesday, October 23, 1951
Death details: On October 23, 1951, a B-29A Superfortress (tail number 44-94045, call sign “Able 1”) departed Kadena Air Base, Japan, carrying thirteen crew members on a bombing mission targeting Namsi Air Field in northwest North Korea. “Able 1” flew as a part of a strike force that included ten B-29s with fighter support. As the formation approached the target, it was attacked by anti-aircraft artillery fire and MiG-15 fighters. Just after “Able 1” completed its bombing run, it was hit in the right wing fuel tank, causing an explosion with a large amount of smoke. The damaged aircraft was flying under control but was losing altitude, and it eventually crashed on a mud flat near the island of Sinmi-Do. Initial searches that continued until October 26, failed to locate the missing Superfortress or its crew. On October 29, a United Nations Partisan Infantry Korea (UNPIK) team discovered the aircraft’s wreckage along with the remains of the radio operator and navigator, but the increasing enemy activity and the rising tide in the area prevented further recovery efforts that day. Returning the next day, UNPIK discovered that one set of these remains had washed away. However, the team collected another body, which they removed for temporary burial on the island of Oesun-Do. In early November 1951, the remains of a third body that was believed to be the radar operator washed ashore on Ho-Do where it was buried by UNPIK forces. Attempts to locate the Oesun-Do an Ho-Do burial sites or recovery of any of the other missing crew remains from the crash site, have been unsuccessful following the war. Technical Sergeant Quentin L. Newswanger entered the U.S. Air Force from Pennsylvania and was assigned to the 370th Bombardment Squadron, 307th Bombardment Wing. He was an electronic counter measures operator aboard this Superfortress when it was lost. No returning POWs mentioned contact with TSgt Newswanger, nor was he seen at any known holding point, interrogation center, hospital, or permanent POW camp. Today, Technical Sergeant Newswanger is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
William F. Bowers from Lancaster County Quarryville, Pennsylvania .
Parents: William F. Bowers
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Friday, December 1, 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. Sergeant First Class W. F. Bowers, who joined the U.S. Army from Pennsylvania, served with the Headquarters Battery, 503rd Artillery Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division. He went missing in action on December 1, 1950, as his unit provided supporting fire to the 2nd Infantry Division as it withdrew through Kunu-ri to Sunchon. Specific details regarding his loss are unknown. No one saw him fall, and he was not reported to be a prisoner of war. His remains were not identified among those returned to U.S. custody after the war. Today, Sergeant First Class Bowers 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, Intelligencer Journal (1954)