Michael Jackson, age 20, from Simi, California, Sonoma county.
Spouse: Peggy J. Jackson
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Tuesday, March 17, 1970
Death details: Killed in action
Source: National Archives, Fort Worth Star Telegram (1970)
Jackson, Michael
Searby, Barry Martin
Navy Petty officer 2nd class
Barry Martin Searby, age 21, from Santa Rosa, California, Sonoma county.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Monday, March 16, 1970
Death details: Killed in Vietnam when a Navy EC121 spy plane with 31 crew aboard crashed into a hanger and started on fire.
Source: National Archives, UPI (1970), Associated Press (1970)
Harding, David Lee
Army Sergeant
David Lee Harding, age 20, from Rohnert Park, California, Sonoma county.
Parents: Mrs. Donavan Anderson and Glenn S. Harding
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Wednesday, February 18, 1970
Death details: Killed in Vietnam by a booby trap.
Source: National Archives, Honolulu Star Bulletin (1970)
Crane, Alvin Earl Jr.
Air Force 1st lieutenant
Alvin Earl Jr. Crane from Santa Rosa, California, Sonoma county.
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Thursday, September 13, 1951
Death details: On August 22, 2005, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC, now DPAA) identified the remains of First Lieutenant Alvin Earl Crane Jr., missing from the Korean War. First Lieutenant Crane joined the U.S. Air Force from California and was a member of the 6148th Tactical Control Squadron. On September 13, 1951, he took off from Pyongtaek Air Base, South Korea, piloting a T-6F Mosquito (serial number unavailable) along with one other crew member on a mission to direct air strikes against enemy ground targets northeast of Kaesong, North Korea. After successfully directing four U.S. fighters to enemy targets, 1st Lt Crane’s T-6F was shot down by enemy fire. One parachute was seen to emerge from the aircraft before it crashed in Hwanghae Province, North Korea. Enemy activity in the area prevented immediate search-and-rescue attempts. U.N. forces were eventually able to locate the crash site, where they recovered remains which were identified as the observer who served on board this Mosquito. No sign of 1st Lt Crane or his remains could be found at the site. No further information regarding the loss of 1st Lt Crane was ever received. In May 1990, the North Korean government repatriated to the United States human remains that were allegedly associated with a U.S. serviceman killed in Hwanghae Province. Forensic analysis eventually allowed these returned remains to be identified as those of 1st Lt Crane. First Lieutenant Crane 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
Bumstead, Gerald Frank
Army Private 1st class
Gerald Frank Bumstead, age 21, from Sonoma County Santa Rosa, California .
Parents: Mauddie Bumstead
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Wednesday, January 3, 1951
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 Gerald Frank Bumstead, who joined the U.S. Army from California, was a member of the Service Battery, 38th Field Artillery Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division. He was captured by enemy forces as his unit, making a fighting withdrawal south to Sunchon, was cut off and overrun by Chinese Communist soldiers. Prisoners returned to U.S. control after the war reported that he died from pneumonia on January 3, 1951 at Pukchin-Tarigol. His remains have not been identified among those returned to U.S. custody. Today, Corporal Bumstead 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, Associated Press (1954)
Rattaro, John Joe
Navy Reserves Gunner’s Mate 2nd class
John Joe Rattaro from Santa Rosa., California, Sonoma county.
Spouse: Mrs. Patricia Mary Rattaro
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Monday, December 18, 1944
Death details: He was aboard the destroyer USS Hull as it operated as part of the Fast Carrier Strike Force in the Philippine Sea. On December 17, 1944, the Hull was participating in refueling operations when the ships of its fueling group were engulfed by Typhoon Cobra. The Hull lost its ability to steer amid the enormous waves and began taking on water. The Hull eventually took on too much water to stay afloat and rolled and sank shortly before noon, on December 18. Sixty-two crew members were rescued, but a little more than two-hundred crew members were lost in the sinking.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Vaccarezza, Eugene Ernest
Marines Reserves Private 1st class
Eugene Ernest Vaccarezza, age 23, from Occidental, California, Sonoma county.
Parents: Mabel Vaccarezza
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Wednesday, November 22, 1944
Death details: From November 20 through 23, 1943, the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Navy conducted a large-scale amphibious assault on the Japanese-held atoll of Tarawa as part of Operation Galvanic, the Allied capture of the Gilbert Islands. Located 2,500 miles southwest of Hawaii, Tarawa was a crucial stepping stone in the planned U.S. offensive across the central Pacific toward Japan. The Japanese garrison on Tarawa’s main island of Betio was well-entrenched with hundreds of bunkers and gun positions behind formidable beach obstacles. The first wave of Marines approaching the shore encountered lower-than-expected tides, forcing them to leave their landing craft on the reef and wade the hundreds of yards to the beach under intense enemy fire. The heaviest number of U.S. casualties were suffered during this phase of the landing. Eventually, rising tides allowed U.S. warships to maneuver closer to shore and support the troops with effective naval gunfire. More Marines landed on the second day, launching attacks inland from the beaches and seizing the Japanese airfield on the island. However, the enemy launched vicious counterattacks and two more days of intense fighting were needed to secure Betio. The last enemy strongpoints were taken on the morning of November 23. The fighting on Betio cost the Marines nearly 3,000 casualties but enabled U.S. forces to press further across the Pacific and yielded valuable tactical lessons that reduced U.S. losses in future amphibious landings. Private First Class Eugene Ernest Vaccarezza, who joined the U.S. Marine Corps from California, was a member of Battery G, 3rd Battalion, 10th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division. On November 21, 1943, he was struck by machine gun fire during the assault on Tarawa and was evacuated to an unknown location. After the battle, no further reports regarding PFC Vaccarezza’s status emerged, and a thorough search of all hospitals and medical establishments on Tarawa was initiated. All efforts to locate PFC Vaccarezza following his disappearance were unsuccessful, and he was not identified among the remains disinterred from Tarawa following the war. Today, Private First Class Vaccarezza is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Saini, John
Marines Private 1st class
John Saini, age 20, from Healdsburg, California, Sonoma county.
Parents: Michael Saini
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Saturday, November 20, 1943
Death details: On April 23, 2016, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Private First Class John Saini, missing from World War II. Private First Class Saini, who joined the U.S. Marine Corps from California, was a member of Company H, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division. He was killed in action on November 20, 1943, during the assault on the Japanese-controlled Betio Island of Tarawa Atoll, Gilbert Islands, and his remains were not recovered at the time. In 2015, the non-governmental organization History Flight, in partnership with DPAA, excavated a burial site on Betio Island and recovered remains of U.S. Marines who fought during the battle in November 1943. DPAA analysts eventually identified PFC Saini from among these remains.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Clark, Walter L.
Army Corporal
Walter L. Clark from California, Sonoma county.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Sunday, November 1, 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. Corporal Walter L. Clark joined the U.S. Army from California and served with the 19th Quartermaster Truck Company in the Philippines during World War II. He was captured in Bataan following the American surrender and died of dysentery on November 1, 1942, at the Cabanatuan Prison Camp in Nueva Ecija Province. 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, Corporal Clark is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Diekmann, William H.
Army Corporal
William H. Diekmann from California, Sonoma county.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Wednesday, September 23, 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 and food and water supplied 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. Corporal William H. Diekmann, who joined the U.S. Army Air Forces in California, served in the Headquarters Squadron, 24th Pursuit Group, which was stationed in the Philippines during World War II. He was captured in Bataan following the American surrender and died of scurvy on September 23, 1942, at the Cabanatuan Prison Camp. He was buried in the camp cemetery; however, he could not be identified among the remains recovered from the cemetery following the war. Today, Corporal Diekmann is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency