Shelby County Ohio

Stephens, Lee
Navy operations specialist

Lee Stephens, age 23, from Pemberton, Ohio, Shelby county.

Parents: Judy

Service era: Cold War

Date of death: Sunday, May 17, 1987
Death details: Died aboard the USS Stark. While in the Persian Gulf on May 17, 1987, she was struck by two Iraqi Exocet missiles, killing 37 sailors and wounding 21. Brought under control, the frigate sailed to Bahrain and was successfully repaired at Ingalls Shipbuilding, Pascagoula, Mississippi. Following repairs and subsequent tours in the Atlantic and Middle East, Stark was decommissioned on May 7, 1999, and was scrapped in 2006.

Source: Associated Press, National Museum of the U.S. Navy

Frilling, Jerome Raymond
Army Private 1st class

Jerome Raymond Frilling, age 20, from Sidney, Ohio, Shelby county.

Parents: Raymond and Agnes Mertz Frilling

Service era: Vietnam
Schools: Fort Laramie High (1968), Wright State University
Military history: Americal Division, 198th Infantry

Date of death: Wednesday, September 30, 1970
Death details: Hostile, died missing, South Vietnam

Source: National Archives, Piqua Daily Call (1970)

Huston, Charles Gregory
Army Staff sergeant

Charles Gregory Huston, age 22, from Sidney, Ohio, Shelby county. Their last known residence was in Sidney.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: March 28, 1968
Death details: On March 28, 1968, an eleven-man reconnaissance patrol in the Savannakhet Province of Laos engaged an unknown size enemy force and requested helicopter extraction in the vicinity of (GC) XD 434 574. The helicopter lowered a rope ladder and as the men climbed up it, one at a time, the helicopter came under heavy enemy fire. The ladder broke with one U.S. soldier on it and he fell to the ground. The helicopter was then forced to leave the area. The U.S. soldier who had fallen and two other U.S. soldiers remained on the ground. A search team was inserted into the area two days later but was unable to locate the three men.

Sergeant Charles Gregory Huston, who joined the U.S. Army from Ohio, served with the Command and Control Detachment, 5th Special Forces Group. He was one of the patrol members who was forced to wait for later extraction, and his remains were not recovered. Subsequent to the incident, and while carried in the status of missing in action (MIA), the U.S. Army promoted Sergeant Huston to the rank of Sergeant First Class (SFC). Today, Sergeant First Class Huston is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Pleiman, James Edward
Air Force Airman 1st class

James Edward Pleiman, age 22, from Shelby County Russia, Ohio .

Parents: August Pleiman

Service era: Vietnam
Schools: Russia High (1962)
Military history: Silver Star

Date of death: Monday, March 14, 1966
Death details: On March 13, 1989, the Central Identification Laboratory-Hawaii(CILH, now DPAA) identified the remains of Airman First Class James Edward Pleiman, missing from the Vietnam War. Airman First Class Pleiman joined the U.S. Air Force from Ohio and was a member of the 33rd Air Rescue and Recovery Squadron. On March 14, 1966, he was a crew member aboard an HU-16B Albatross (tail number 51-0071) on a rescue mission over the Gulf of Tonkin. As the Albatross landed on the water to pick up survivors from an earlier incident, it was downed by hostile gunfire. Airman First Class Pleiman was killed in the crash, and his remains sank with the aircraft. He was not recovered when Navy helicopters arrived to pick up survivors. Immediate search efforts for A1C Pleiman’s remains were unsuccessful. In December 1988, the Vietnamese government repatriated a set of unidentified remains to U.S. custody. Forensic analysis identified A1C Pleiman from among the returned remains. Airman First Class Pleiman is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. His name is also inscribed along with all his fallen comrades on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Dayton Daily News (1966)

Katterhenry, Terry Fisher
Air Force Captain

Terry Fisher Katterhenry, age 26, from Shelby County Sidney, Ohio .

Parents: Ralph W. Katterhenry

Service era: Vietnam
Schools: Sidney High (1957)
Military history: 345th Troop Carrier Squadron

Date of death: Monday, December 20, 1965
Death details: Killed in the crash of his transport plane in South Vietnam.

Source: National Archives, Sidney Daily News (1965)

Hetzler, Thurman Benjamin
Army Private

Thurman Benjamin Hetzler, age 23, from Ohio, Shelby county.

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Tuesday, September 11, 1951
Death details: On April 25, 1951, elements of the 24th Infantry Division, including the 21st Infantry Regiment and the 5th Regimental Combat Team, which was attached to the division at the time, were dug into positions north of Seoul, South Korea, where massive Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) had regrouped after their previous attempts to penetrate the valley areas east of Seoul. The CCF launched a renewed offensive against these positions, and despite fierce resistance, could not be stopped. Full enemy divisions were committed in succession, passing around or through their own lines to engage severely outnumbered friendly forces. For several miles, a withdrawal by stages unfolded. Artillery and tanks covered movement after movement, using slight rises in terrain to their full defensive value. The U.S. units suffered heavy casualties and had many men captured during these successive rear guard actions. Private First Class Thurman B. Hetzler, who joined the U.S. Army from Ohio, served with L Company, 3rd Battalion, 19th Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was captured on April 25, 1951, as his unit, withdrawing south and under heavy attack, attempted to circumvent a roadblock set up by Chinese Communist Forces west of the Hwach-on Reservoir. PFC Hetzler died of malnutrition on September 11, 1951 at the “Mining Camp” in North Korea. His burial location is unknown, and his remains were not identified among those returned to U.S. custody after the war. Today, Private First Class Hetzler is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Blue, Adelbert
Army Private 1st class

Adelbert Blue, age 21, from Shelby County Houston, Ohio .

Parents: Marcella Skinner and William H. Blue

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Unknown
Death details: In early July 1950, the U.S. Army’s 34th Infantry Regiment was occupying defensive positions just above the village of P’yongt’aek, South Korea, when it came under attack by the North Korean People’s Army (NKPA) 4th Division. The 34th Infantry had previously been on garrison duty in Japan and were not yet back up to combat strength. The NKPA attack was led by tanks; vastly outnumbered and lacking effective anti-tank weapons, the 34th Infantry was completely overwhelmed. They were forced to move south to Ch’onan where hasty defensive positions were established along two roads leading further south. However, the NKPA continued its relentless attack and again pushed the 34th Infantry out of their fighting positions, driving them down the Osan-Ch’onan road. After another brief but sharp battle on the morning of July 8, the Americans began a general withdrawal south to the Kum River Line, where U.S. forces would organize a defense in the hope of keeping the NKPA from reaching Taejon. During this series of fighting withdrawals, many U.S. soldiers were killed or captured by the enemy. Corporal Adelbert Blue entered the U.S. Army from Ohio and was a member of A Company, 1st Battalion, 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was captured during this fighting withdrawal and was marched with other prisoners toward the Apex prison camps in North Korea. He eventually reached an Apex camp in An-dong where he died due to exhaustion and illness in July 1951; he was buried near the camp. His remains were not identified among those returned to the U.S. following the ceasefire, and he is still unaccounted for. Today, Corporal Blue 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, Sidney Daily News (1950)

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