Shawnee Oklahoma

Warren, Eric D.
Navy Hospitalman

Eric D. Warren, age 26, from Shawnee, Oklahoma, Pottawatomie county.

Service era: Afghanistan
Military history: 1st Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, Regimental Combat Team 6, 1st Marine Division (Forward), I Marine Expeditionary Force (Forward), Camp Lejeune.

Date of death: Saturday, May 26, 2012
Death details: Died of wounds received in action due to an improvised explosive device blast in Sangin District, Helman Province, Afghanistan.

Source: Department of Defense, Military Times

Pennanen, Ross Alan
Army Sergeant

Ross Alan Pennanen, age 36, from Shawnee, Oklahoma, Pottawatomie county.

Service era: Iraq
Military history: C Battery 2Nd Battalion 5Th Field Artillery, Fort Sill, Ok 73503

Date of death: Sunday, November 2, 2003
Death details: Hostile; Al Fallujah, Iraq

Source: Department of Defense

White, Aaron Dean
Marines Staff sergeant

Aaron Dean White, age 27, from Shawnee, Oklahoma, Pottawatomie county.

Parents: Darrell and Karen White
Spouse: Michele
Children: Brianna Nicole, 1

Service era: Iraq
Military history: Hmm-364, Mag-39, 3D Maw, Camp Pendleton, California

Date of death: Monday, May 19, 2003
Death details: Killed in a CH-46 Sea Knight helicopter crash in the Shatt al Hillah Canal in Iraq

Source: Department of Defense, Military Times

Hembree, John Jr.
Army Private 1st class

John Jr. Hembree, age 19, from Pottawatomie County Shawnee, Oklahoma .

Spouse: Linda Lee Hembree

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Friday, December 1, 1950
Death details: By mid-November 1950, U.S. and Allied forces had advanced to within approximately sixty miles of the Yalu River, the border between North Korea and China. On November 25, approximately 300,000 Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) “volunteers” suddenly and fiercely counterattacked after crossing the Yalu. The 2nd Infantry Division, located the farthest north of units at the Chongchon River, could not halt the CCF advance and was ordered to withdraw to defensive positions at Sunchon in the South Pyongan province of North Korea. As the division pulled back from Kunu-ri toward Sunchon, it conducted an intense rearguard action while fighting to break through well-defended roadblocks set up by CCF infiltrators. The withdrawal was not complete until December 1, and the 2nd Infantry Division suffered extremely heavy casualties in the process. Corporal John Hembree Jr. joined the U.S. Army from Oklahoma and served with the Headquarters Battery, 82nd Anti-Aircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division. He went missing in action on December 1, 1950, as his unit provided direct fire support to 2nd Infantry Division troops withdrawing from Kunu-ri south to Sunchon, North Korea. No one saw him fall, and he was not reported to be a prisoner of war. The area where he went missing never reverted to Allied control, which precluded searches for his body during the war, and his remains were not identified among those returned to U.S. custody after the war. Corporal Hembree is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. His name is also inscribed on the Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC, which was updated in 2022 to include the names of the fallen.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Tulsa World (1954)

Mattingly, Donald Leo
Army Sergeant

Donald Leo Mattingly, age 24, from Garfield County Shawnee, Oklahoma .

Spouse: Martha
Children: Donald Leo, 2

Service era: Korea
Military history: World War II veteran

Date of death: Saturday, July 29, 1950
Death details: On July 28, 1950, members of the 3rd Battalion, 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division, were in defensive positions near Kochang, South Korea, west of the Naktong River. They served as part of a defensive formation soon to be known as the Pusan Perimeter, meant to delay the North Korean People’s Army’s (NKPA) advance through South Korea long enough so that reinforcements could arrive at Pusan Harbor. That night, members of the 34th Infantry reported seeing a procession of enemy tanks and infantry assemble behind a roadblock west of Kochang. The next morning, this NKPA force attacked the 34th Infantry positions from two directions. Continuous enemy fire eventually forced the regiment to withdraw to the east; however, Company I was cut off by the NKPA. A counterattack was successful in rescuing all but one platoon from Company I, though many men were killed or went missing during these actions. Sergeant First Class Donald Leo Mattingly entered the U.S. Army from Oklahoma and was a member of I Company, 3rd Battalion, 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was captured sometime during the fighting on July 29 and held in Seoul. In late August or early September, he was marched with other prisoners of war (POWs) to Pyongyang; and in mid-October, was moved further north by train. He died during this journey on October 20 or 21, likely near Kujang. His body was never recovered and he remains unaccounted for. Today, Sergeant First Class Mattingly is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. His name is also inscribed on the Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC, which was updated in 2022 to include the names of the fallen.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Shawnee News Star (1950)

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