Promote & Preserve stories of U.S. fallen soldiers/sailors
Joshua J. Rimer, age 24, from Rochester, Pennsylvania, Beaver county. Their last known residence was in Rochester.
Service era: Afghanistan
Military history: 4th Engineer Battalion, Fort Carson, Colorado.
Date of death: Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Death details: Died of wounds suffered when an improvised explosive device detonated near his vehicle in Zabul Province, Afghanistan
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times
Andrew Joseph III Fritsch, age 21, from Rochester, Pennsylvania, Beaver county.
Parents: Andrew J. Fritsch Jr.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Monday, August 10, 1970
Death details: Hostile, killed in South Vietnam.
Source: National Archives., UPI (1970)
William Agner Jurich, age 24, from Rochester, Pennsylvania, Beaver county.
Parents: Melvin Jurich
Spouse: Mildred Baser Jurich
Children: William Michael
Service era: Vietnam
Schools: Geneva College in Beaver Falls graduate
Military history: Company C, 4th Battalion, 12th Infantry Division
Date of death: Thursday, June 25, 1970
Death details: Hostile, killed in South Vietnam.
Source: National Archives, Pittsburgh Post Gazette (1970)
Thomas Richard Brewer, age 20, from Rochester, Pennsylvania, Beaver county.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Sunday, March 15, 1970
Death details: Non-hostile, died in South Vietnam.
Source: National Archives, Associsted Press (1970)
Edward Nelson McGaffic, age 20, from Rochester, Pennsylvania, Beaver county.
Parents: Blanche McGaffic
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Thursday, November 2, 1950
Death details: During the last week of October 1950, Republic of Korea (ROK) Army forces under the control of the U.S. Eighth Army were advancing deep in North Korean territory, approaching the Yalu River on the Chinese-Korean border. Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) struck back in a surprise attack, engaging the ROK 1st and 6th Divisions near Unsan, some sixty miles north of Pyongyang. The U.S. 1st Cavalry Division, with the 8th Cavalry Regiment in the lead, was rushed forward to reinforce the ROK units in the Unsan area. On November 1, the regiment’s 1st Battalion took up positions north of Unsan, while the 2nd Battalion moved to guard the Nammyon River valley west of town, and the 3rd Battalion was placed in reserve at the valley’s southern end. Corporal Edward Nelson McGaffic joined the U.S. Army from Pennsylvania and was a member of Company E of the 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. On November 1, 1950, Company E was occupying defensive positions with the 2nd Battalion near Unsan when the uint came under heavy attack and was forced to withdraw. Corporal McGaffic went missing during this action, though circumstances surrounding his loss are unknown. He was never reported as a prisoner of war and was not identified among the remains returned to U.S. custody after the ceasefire. Today, Corporal McGaffic is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Pittsburgh Press (1950)