Andrew T. Lobosco, age 29, from Somerville, New Jersey, Somerset county. Their last known residence was in Somerville.
Service era: Afghanistan
Military history: 2nd Battalion, 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
Date of death: Saturday, August 22, 2009
Death details: Died of wounds suffered when enemy attacked his unit in Yakhchal, Afghanistan.
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times
Steven Plumhoff, age 33, from Neshanic Station, New Jersey, Somerset county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: 58Th Operations Group, Kirtland Afb, Nm
Date of death: Sunday, November 23, 2003
Death details: Hostile; , Afghanistan
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times
Thomas D. Stowe, age 20, from Somerset County Somerville, New Jersey .
Spouse: Donna Stowe (married (181)
Children: Samantha Lee, born in June. He never saw his daughter
Service era: Beirut bombings
Schools: Somerville High
Date of death: Sunday, October 23, 1983
Death details: Among more than 200 military personnel killed in the terroist bombing of Marine headquarters in Beirut.
Source: White House Commission on Remembrance, Central New Jersey Home News (1983)
Thomas William Frech, age 22, from Somerville, New Jersey, Somerset county.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Tuesday, December 1, 1970
Death details: Non-hostile death in South Vietnam
Source: National Arcives
Myron Diduryk, age 31, from Somerville, New Jersey, Somerset county.
Spouse: Delores Diduryk
Children: Kimberly and Keith
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Friday, April 24, 1970
Death details: Hostile, killed in South Vietnam
Cemetery: National Archives, Columbus Ledger Enquirer (1970)
Robert Francis Scherdin, age 21, from Somerville, New Jersey.
Schools: Somerville High (1965)
Date of death: Sunday, December 29, 1968
Death details: Private First Class (PFC) Robert Francis Scherdin entered the U.S. Army from New Jersey and served with Command & Control North, 5th Special Forces Group. On December 29, 1968, he was the assistant team leader of a reconnaissance patrol in Cambodia when his group, the patrol’s rear element, came under heavy enemy fire. The lead element was extracted a short time later, followed by all the men in the rear element; however, after extraction, PFC Scherdin was discovered to be missing. He was not seen again and his remains were never recovered. Subsequent to the incident, and while carried in the status of missing in action (MIA), the U.S. Army promoted PFC Sherdin to the rank of Staff Sergeant (SSG). Later, the U.S. Army posthumously promoted Staff Sergeant Sherdin to the rank of Sergeant First Class (SFC). Today, Sergeant First Class Scherdin is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, New Jersey Vietnam Vetarans, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
John Francis Dudash, age 37, from Manville, New Jersey; Somerset County
Date of death: April 27, 1967
Death details: On June 27, 1983, the Central Identification Lab-Hawaii (CILHI, now DPAA) identified the remains of Colonel John Francis Dudash, missing from the Vietnam War.
Colonel Dudash, who joined the U.S. Air Force from New Jersey, served with the 333rd Tactical Fighter Squadron. On April 27, 1967, he piloted an F-105D Thunderchief on a mission over North Vietnam. During the mission, the Thunderchief was shot down and Col Dudash was killed. Hostile presence in the area prevented recovery efforts following the crash. In 1983, the Vietnamese government repatriated human remains to the U.S. which were later identified as those of Col Dudash.
Cemetery: Arlington National
Sources: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, findagrave.com
Charles William Dougherty, age 25, from Somerset County Raritan, New Jersey .
Parents: Charles M. Dougherty
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Monday, August 6, 1945
Death details: Killed aboard USS Bullhead SS-332 when it was sunk by air attack near the Lombok Strait.
Source: On Eternal Patrol, Bridgewater Courier News (1945)
Jacob Joseph Kopf, age 37, from Somerset County Neshanic Station, New Jersey .
Spouse: Hazel K. Kopf
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Monday, August 6, 1945
Death details: Killed aboard USS Bullhead SS-332 when it was sunk by air attack near the Lombok Strait.
Source: On Eternal Patrol, Central New Jersey Homes News (1946)
Edward James Lloyd from Plainfield, New Jersey, Somerset county.
Parents: John A. Lloyd
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Thursday, November 26, 1942
Death details: Following the Allied surrender on the Bataan Peninsula on April 9, 1942, the Japanese began the forcible transfer of American and Filipino prisoners of war to various prison camps in central Luzon, at the northern end of the Philippines. The largest of these camps was the notorious Cabanatuan Prison Camp. At its peak, Cabanatuan held approximately 8,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war that were captured during and after the Fall of Bataan. Camp overcrowding worsened with the arrival of Allied prisoners who had surrendered from Corregidor on May 6, 1942. Conditions at the camp were poor, with food and water extremely limited, leading to widespread malnutrition and outbreaks of malaria and dysentery. By the time the camp was liberated in early 1945, approximately 2,800 Americans had died at Cabanatuan. Prisoners were forced to bury the dead in makeshift communal graves, often completed without records or markers. As a result, identifying and recovering remains interred at Cabanatuan was difficult in the years after the war. Signalman First Class Edward James Lloyd entered the U.S. Navy from New Jersey and served aboard the USS Canopus (AS-9), which was anchored off Mariveles in the Philippines during the Japanese invasion. In late February 1942, crew members from the Canopus were evacuated to Corregidor to support the 4th Marine Regiment’s defense of the island. After the American surrender on May 6, 1942, SM1 Lloyd was taken prisoner and interned at the Cabanatuan Prison Camp in Nueva Ecija Province, where he died of dysentery on November 26, 1942. He was buried in a communal grave in the camp cemetery along with other deceased American POWs; however, his remains could not be associated with any remains recovered from Cabanatuan after the war. Today, Signalman First Class Lloyd is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency