Promote & Preserve stories of U.S. fallen soldiers/sailors
Ryan Andrew Balmer, age 33, from Mishawaka, Indiana, St Joseph county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: Det 113, 1St Field Investigations Region, Hill Afb, Utah
Spouse: Danielle Balmer
Children: Joshua, 11, Anthony, 7, Gabby, 11 months
Date of death: Tuesday, June 5, 2007
Death details: Hostile; Near Kirkuk Ab, Iraq
Source: Department of Defense, Desert News
Jeremy Boorda, age 56, from South Bend, Indiana, St. Joseph county.
Spouse: Mae Moran Boorda (1938-2020)
Children: Four children
Service era: Iraq
Schools: Quit high school, ran away from home and lied about his age to join the Navy
Date of death: Thursday, May 16, 1996
Death details: Jeremy was upset because someone claimed he was not authorized to wear two vailor medals. He was authorized to wear them, but that accusation was too much. He took his own life.
Cemetery: Arlington National
Source: suicide.org, New York Times (1996), U.S. Navy, findagrave.com
James H. York, age 43, from South Bend, Indiana, Saint Joseph county.
Service era: Cold War
Date of death: Thursday, December 16, 1982
Death details: Among 9 crew members killed when their B-52 bomber crashed in a pasture near Mather Air Force Base, California.
Source: Charlotte News (1983), Lead Daily Call (1983), Lincoln Star (1982)
Charles Forak III Creamer, age 24, from South Bend, Indiana, Saint Joseph county.
Parents: Charles F. Creamer Jr.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Saturday, November 28, 1970
Death details: Hostile in South Vietnam. Killed in a helicopter crash
Source: National Archives, South Bend Tribune (1970)
Wilfred Wesley Jr. Warner, age 21, from Mishawaka, Indiana, Saint Joseph county.
Parents: Wilfred W. Warner Sr.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Thursday, July 23, 1970
Death details: Hostile in South Vietnam
Source: National Archives, Indianapolis News (1970)
Ronald L. Hazen, age 18, from Mishawaka, Indiana, Saint Joseph county.
Parents: Louis Hazen Jr.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Wednesday, April 29, 1970
Death details: Non-hostile in South Vietnam
Cemetery: Chapel Hills Memorial Gardens
Source: National Archives, South Bend Tribune (1970)
Joseph Steven Nemeth, age 20, from South Bend, Indiana, Saint Joseph county.
Parents: Joseph L. Nemeth
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Friday, April 10, 1970
Death details: Hostile in South Vietnam
Source: National Archives, Associated Press (1970)
Tim Leroy Walters, age 26, from South Bend, Indiana, Saint Joseph county.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Sunday, March 9, 1969
Death details: On December 1, 1999, Joint Task Force–Full Accounting (JTF-FA, now DPAA) identified the remains of Staff Sergeant Tim Leroy Walters, missing from the Vietnam War. Staff Sergeant Walters entered the U.S. Army from Indiana and was a member of Headquarters, Military Assistance Command, Vietnam. On March 9, 1969, he was the observer aboard an O-2A Skymaster (tail number 67-21425, call sign “Nail 40”) on a combat support mission over Laos. While over Savannakhet Province, the aircraft was shot down by enemy fire, killing SSG Walters. A ground search team found the wreckage but the active enemy presence in the area prevented the recovery of SSG Walters’ body at the time. Investigators eventually returned to the crash site and recovered human remains there, and U.S. analysts identified SSG Walters from these remains.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, findagrave.com
Clifton Eugene Gibson from Indiana, Saint Joseph county.
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Wednesday, October 15, 1952
Death details: On October 14, 1952, as part of Operation SHOWDOWN, members of the 2nd Battalion of the U.S. 31st Infantry Regiment launched an attack against Hill 598, part of the “Triangle Hill Complex” near Kumhwa, South Korea. As the units moved toward the hill, the men faced dug-in Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) positioned in holes and trenches, slowing their advance. As night fell, enemy mortar and artillery fire intensified, and CCF troops counterattacked in overwhelming force. The enemy’s initial assault was beaten back, but successive waves of CCF troops isolated and destroyed sections of the American defenses; in danger of being surrounded and nearly out of ammunition, the men of the 2nd Battalion were ordered to fall back. After regrouping on October 15, members of the 2nd Battalion attacked Hill 598 again and eventually secured it. During this attack, the 2nd Battalion’s Company F followed Company E to the hill’s crest before pushing out to “Pike’s Peak,” the next hill to the northwest, and then turning toward the east to seize “Sandy Ridge.” The 2nd Battalion again met a CCF counter-attack, which they beat back to secure the salient for that day. Twelve members of Company F and four members of Company E were reported killed or missing following this battle.
Private First Class Clifton Eugene Gibson entered the U.S. Army from Indiana and served in Company F, 2nd Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was reported as missing in action on October 15, 1952, following the fighting at Triangle Hill. He was never reported to be a prisoner of war, and he was not identified among the remains returned to U.S. custody following the war. Today, Private First Class Gibson is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Eldon Raymond Bradley from Indiana, Saint Joseph county.
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 Eldon R. Bradley, who joined the U.S. Army from Indiana, was a member of Company E of the 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. On November 1, 1950, the 8th Cavalry Regiment was conducting defensive operations against encroaching CCF in the Unsan area, and was ordered to withdraw after receiving intense rocket and mortar attacks and infantry assaults. Company E fought its way through Unsan, a village that was by then infiltrated with Chinese forces that had attacked U.S. forces with small arms fire from rooftops and behind roadblocks. At some point during this combat, CPL Bradley was taken as a prisoner of war and was marched northwest to Sambakkol, then to Camp 5 at Pyoktong on the Yalu River. Repatriated prisoners reported in 1953 that CPL Bradley died between March and May 1951, at Pyoktong, after suffering from malnutrition, and was buried at the prison. Since the close of the war, his remains have not been associated with remains that North Korean officials returned to U.S. custody. Today, Corporal Bradley is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency