Randy Jay Matheny, age 20, from McCook, Nebraska, Red Willow county.
Service era: Iraq
School: McCook High
Military history: Detachment 3, 1074Th Transportation Company, (13 Sc), Sidney, Ne; Nebraska National Guard
Date of death: Sunday, February 4, 2007
Death details: Hostile; Baghdad, Iraq. Died of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle.
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times, findagrave.com
Donovan Keith Walters, age 28, from Lebanon, Nebraska, Red Willow county.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Thursday, December 21, 1972
Death details: On April 18, 1989, the Central Identification Laboratory-Hawaii (CILHI, now DPAA) identified the remains of Captain Donovan Keith Walters, missing from the Vietnam War.
Captain Walters entered the U.S. Air Force from Nebraska and was a member of the 325th Bombardment Squadron. On December 21, 1972, he copiloted a B-52G Stratofortress (tail number 58-0198, call sign “Olive 01”) that took off from Guam on a bombing mission over North Vietnam. During the flight, “Olive 01” was hit by an enemy surface-to-air missile that caused it to crash and explode in Ha Tay Province. Capt Walters ejected from the aircraft prior to its crash, but did not survive the incident. The enemy presence in the area prevented search efforts on the ground and Capt Walters’ remains were not recovered at the time. In 1988, the Vietnamese government repatriated human remains that U.S. analysts identified as those of Capt Walters.
Source: National Archives, Associated Press, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Michael Lee Klingner, age 24, from Nebraska, Red Willow county.
Spouse: Married
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Monday, April 6, 1970
Death details: First Lieutenant Michael Lee Klingner entered the U.S. Air Force from Nebraska and served in the 308th Tactical Fighter Squadron. On April 6, 1970, he piloted a single-seat F-100D Super Sabre (tail number 56-3278, call sign “Sabre 31”) out of Tuy Hoa Air Base on a strike mission against enemy targets in Laos. After attacking his primary target, 1st Lt Klinger was cleared to strike a secondary target along an enemy infiltration route that had been marked by a forward air controller (FAC). “Sabre 31” made its pass and fired on the target, but seconds later the FAC observed a large fireball and witnessed “Sabre 31” crash at (GC) YC 520 167. Other aircraft on the mission saw no parachute and detected no rescue beepers near the crash site, and searches to locate 1st Lt Klinger following the crash were unsuccessful. Subsequent to the incident, and while carried in the status of missing in action (MIA), the U.S. Air Force promoted First Lieutenant Klingner to the rank of Captain (Capt). Today, Captain Klingner is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Omaha World Herald (1970), Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Elton David Harrison, age 22, from Red Willow County Madison, Nebraska .
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Sunday, August 9, 1942
Source: National Archives, Omaha World Herald (1943)