Tag: South Bend Indiana

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Boorda, Jeremy
Navy Admiral

Jeremy Boorda, age 56, from South Bend, Indiana, St. Joseph county.

Spouse: Mae Moran Boorda (1938-2020)
Children: Four children

Service era: Iraq
Schools: Quit high school, ran away from home and lied about his age to join the Navy

Date of death: Thursday, May 16, 1996
Death details: Jeremy was upset because someone claimed he was not authorized to wear two vailor medals. He was authorized to wear them, but that accusation was too much. He took his own life.
Cemetery: Arlington National

Source: suicide.org, New York Times (1996), U.S. Navy, findagrave.com

 

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York, James H.
Air Force Major

James H. York, age 43, from South Bend, Indiana, Saint Joseph county.

Service era: Cold War

Date of death: Thursday, December 16, 1982
Death details: Among 9 crew members killed when their B-52 bomber crashed in a pasture near Mather Air Force Base, California.

Source: Charlotte News (1983), Lead Daily Call (1983), Lincoln Star (1982)

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Yeakley, Robin Ray
Army Specialist 4

Robin Ray Yeakley, age 23, from South Bend, Indiana, St. Joseph county.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: Sunday, June 11, 1972
Death details: Army Capt. Arnold E. Holm Jr. of Waterford, Conn.; Spc. Robin R. Yeakley of South Bend, Ind.; and Pfc. Wayne Bibbs of Chicago, were buried as a group, in a single casket representing the entire crew, on Nov. 9, 2011 in Arlington National Cemetery. On June 11, 1972, Holm was the pilot of an OH-6A Cayuse helicopter flying a reconnaissance mission in Thua Thien-Hue Province, South Vietnam. Also on board were his observer, Yeakley, and his door gunner, Bibbs. The aircraft made a second pass over a ridge, where enemy bunkers had been sighted, exploded and crashed, exploding again upon impact. Crews of other U.S. aircraft, involved in the mission, reported receiving enemy ground fire as they overflew the crash site looking for survivors. On March 16, 2011, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC, now DPAA) identified the remains of Specialist 4 Robin Ray Yeakley, missing from the Vietnam War. Specialist 4 Yeakley joined the U.S. Army from Indiana and was a member of Troop F, 8th Cavalry Regiment. On June 11, 1972, he was the observer aboard an OH-6A Cayuse helicopter on a reconnaissance mission over Thua Thien-Hue Provence, Vietnam. Just after passing over a ridge in the target area, the OH-6A crashed and exploded, and SP4 Yeakley was killed. Enemy presence in the area prevented immediate recovery efforts for his remains. Between 1993 and 2008, joint U.S./Vietnamese search teams conducted investigations that located the OH-6A’s crash site. Human remains were recovered from the site and modern forensic techniques were able to identify SP4 Yeakley among the remains recovered.
Cemetery: Arlington National

Source: National Archives

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Creamer, Charles Forak III
Army Chief warrant officer

Charles Forak III Creamer, age 24, from South Bend, Indiana, Saint Joseph county.

Parents: Charles F. Creamer Jr.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: Saturday, November 28, 1970
Death details: Hostile in South Vietnam. Killed in a helicopter crash

Source: National Archives, South Bend Tribune (1970)

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Nemeth, Joseph Steven
Army Private 1st class

Joseph Steven Nemeth, age 20, from South Bend, Indiana, Saint Joseph county.

Parents: Joseph L. Nemeth

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: Friday, April 10, 1970
Death details: Hostile in South Vietnam

Source: National Archives, Associated Press (1970)

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Walters, Tim Leroy
Army Staff sergeant

Tim Leroy Walters, age 26, from South Bend, Indiana, Saint Joseph county.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: Sunday, March 9, 1969
Death details: On December 1, 1999, Joint Task Force–Full Accounting (JTF-FA, now DPAA) identified the remains of Staff Sergeant Tim Leroy Walters, missing from the Vietnam War. Staff Sergeant Walters entered the U.S. Army from Indiana and was a member of Headquarters, Military Assistance Command, Vietnam. On March 9, 1969, he was the observer aboard an O-2A Skymaster (tail number 67-21425, call sign “Nail 40”) on a combat support mission over Laos. While over Savannakhet Province, the aircraft was shot down by enemy fire, killing SSG Walters. A ground search team found the wreckage but the active enemy presence in the area prevented the recovery of SSG Walters’ body at the time. Investigators eventually returned to the crash site and recovered human remains there, and U.S. analysts identified SSG Walters from these remains.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, findagrave.com

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Cripe, Donald John
Navy Chief radioman

Donald John Cripe from South Bend, Indiana, Saint Joseph county.

Parents: Emma A. Cripe
Spouse: Madeline M. Cripe

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Tuesday, September 29, 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. Chief Radioman Donald J. Cripe joined the U.S. Navy from Indiana was stationed on Corregidor Island during the Japanese invasion of the Philippines. He was captured following the American surrender and was interned at the Cabanatuan Prison Camp in Nueva Ecija Province, and where he died of dysentery on September 29, 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, Chief Radioman Cripe is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

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Arthurholtz, Marley R.
Marines Private 1st class

Marley R. Arthurholtz, age 20, from South Bend, Indiana, St. Joseph county.

Parents: Mary Arthurholtz

Service era: World War II
Military history: Purple Heart

Date of death: Sunday, December 7, 1941
Death details: Killed aboard the USS Oklahoma. Accounted for in 2019
Cemetery: Tablets of the Missing at Honolulu Memorial

Source: National Archives, American Battle Monuments Commission, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency