Promote & Preserve stories of U.S. fallen soldiers/sailors
Dalton Beals, age 20, from Salem County Pennsville Township, New Jersey .
Service era: Afghanistan
Date of death: Friday, June 4, 2021
Death details: Died during the culminating “crucible” event at the Marines Recruit Depot Paris Island, South Carolina.
Source: Millitary.com
Derek Kerns, age 21, from Woodstown, New Jersey, Salem county.
Service era: Afghanistan
Schools: Woodstown High (2008)
Military history: Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 261, Marine Aircraft Group 26MV-22 based at New River Air Station in North Carolina. Joined Marines in December 2010.
Date of death: Wednesday, April 11, 2012
Death details: Died during a training accident in Morocco when the MV-22 Osprey he was in crashed near Agadir after takeoff from the USS Iwo Jima. Cpl. Bobby Reyes also died.
Cemetery: Salem County Veterans Cemetery, Pilesgrove Township, New Jersey
Source: Whittier Daily News, nj.com
Thomas Samuel Rogers, age 24, from Penns Grove, New Jersey, Salem county.
Parents: Thomas E. Rogers
Service era: Vietnam
Schools: Penns Grove Reginnal High (1963), Salem County Technical College graduate, Bryant College in Providence, Rhode Island
Date of death: Tuesday, July 14, 1970
Death details: Died from injuries received in the crash of his helicopter following a military maneuver in South Vietnam
Cemetery: Lawnside in Woodstown
Source: National Archives, Wilmington Morning News
Charles Alfred Varner, age 22, from Hancocks Bridge, New Jersey, Salem county.
Parents: Foster W. Varner
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Friday, March 13, 1970
Death details: Non-hostile death in South Vietnam. Found drowned in a swimming pool.
Cemetery: Salem County Veterans Memorial Park
Source: National Archives, Wilmington Morning News (1970)
John Duffield Franklin Jr. from New Jersey, Salem county.
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Sunday, July 16, 1950
Death details: On the evening of July 15, 1950, the U.S. Army’s 19th Infantry Regiment held defensive positions along the south bank of the Kum River. As dusk approached, North Korean People’s Army (NKPA) tanks appeared on the opposite shore and began firing on the U.S. positions. Although U.S. troops repulsed the attacks that evening, the next morning the NKPA crossed the river and launched a major attack against the 19th Regiment. As the regiment began withdrawing south to Taejon, the North Koreans pushed deep into their defensive lines and set up a roadblock en route to Taejon. When retreating American convoys could not break through the roadblock, soldiers were forced to leave the road and attempt to make their way in small groups across the countryside. Of the 900 soldiers in the 19th Infantry when the Battle of Kum River started, only 434 made it to friendly lines. Private First Class John Duffield Franklin Jr. entered the U.S. Army from New Jersey and served with Company A, 1st Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was captured on July 16, during the Battle of Kum River, while his unit was attempting to withdraw to friendly-controlled areas outside Taejon. After his capture, PFC Franklin was taken to Seoul and then to Manpo. From Manpo, he was part of the “Tiger Group” marched to a cluster of three villages known as the “Apex” camps. When he arrived, PFC Franklin was mortally ill, and died on or around June 6, 1951, at the third “Apex” camp. His companions buried him a short distance away; however, his remains have not been recovered or identified since. Today, Private First Class Franklin is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Karl R. Loesche from New Jersey, Salem county.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Monday, November 16, 1942
Death details: On September 13, 2018, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Staff Sergeant Karl R. Loesche, missing from World War II. Staff Sergeant Loesche, who joined the U.S. Army Air Forces from New Jersey, served in the 3rd Pursuit Squadron, 24th Pursuit Group. He was captured on the Bataan Peninsula in the Philippines, following the American surrender on April 9, 1942, and was taken prisoner by Japanese forces. He was eventually taken to the Cabanatuan Prison Camp in Nueva Ecija Province, where he died of dysentery on November 16, 1942. He was buried in a communal grave in the camp cemetery along with other deceased American POWs; however, he could not be individually identified among the remains recovered from Cabanatuan after the war. In 2016, advances in forensic techniques prompted the reexamination and subsequent identification of SSG Loesche’s remains.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency