Ralph Byrd, age 22, from Scott County Helenwood, Tennessee .
Parents: Fletcher and Fannie
Spouse: Patricia Joy
Children: April Renee
Service era: Vietnam
Military history: 101st Airborne Division
Date of death: Monday, February 7, 1966
Death details: Killed in action in Vietnam
Source: National Archives, Plain Dealer (1966)
Tommie Keeton, age 24, from Scott County Huntsville, Tennessee .
Parents: Lawrence Keeton
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Tuesday, November 16, 1965
Source: National Archives, Associated Press (1965)
Bailey Keeton Jr. from Tennessee, Scott county.
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Saturday, December 2, 1950
Death details:Â On June 2, 2016, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Sergeant Bailey Keeton Jr., missing from the Korean War.
Sergeant Keeton joined the U.S. Army from Tennessee and was a member of Company D, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. In November 1950, elements of the 32nd Infantry Regiment were part of the 31st Regimental Combat Team (RCT) operating along the eastern bank of the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea. In late November, Chinese Communist Forces launched a large-scale surprise attack against U.S. forces around the reservoir, forcing the 31st RCT to withdraw south to more defensible positions. The CCF established roadblocks along the withdrawal route that broke apart the evacuation column. SGT Keeton went missing in action during this fighting withdrawal on December 2. In 2004, a joint U.S. and North Korean investigative team conducted a recovery operation in the Chosin Reservoir area, recovering human remains. In 2016, forensic analysis was able to identify one set of the recovered remains as those of SGT Keeton.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Oliver Jeffers, age 31, from Tennessee, Scott county.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Friday, November 10, 1944
Death details: On April 23, 2020, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Pfc. Oliver Jeffers, missing from World War II. Jeffers entered the U.S. Army from Tennessee and served in Company L of the 12th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Division. On November 10, 1944, Jeffers’ platoon held a position near Lendersdorf, Germany, in the Hurtgen Forest, when the platoon came under a heavy enemy attack and was forced to withdraw. Jeffers was killed during this action, although his body was not recovered at the time. The discovery of his jacket helped researchers draw a potential association between Jeffers and an unknown set of remains recovered near the town of Hurtgen. This association was reinforced by historical evidence, and in 2020, DPAA scientists used laboratory analyses that identified these remains as those of Jeffers.
Source: National Archives, WBIR, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
James Gibson, age 24, from Scott County Norma, Tennessee .
Service era: World War I
Date of death: Saturday, November 2, 1918
Death details: Killed in action
Source: Soldiers of the Great War