Promote & Preserve stories of U.S. fallen soldiers/sailors
James Allen Wimmer, age 21, from Spokane, Washington, Spokane county.
Service era: Vietnam
Schools: Rogers High (1966)
Military history: Company B, 1st Battalion, 327th Infantry, 101st Airborne Division
Date of death: Saturday, June 27, 1970
Death details: Killed in action in Vietnam
Source: National Archives, Spokane Chronicle (1970)
John James Clark, age 37, from Spokane, Washington, Spokane county.
Service era: Vietnam
Military history: 173rd Airborne Brigade. Commanded the White House honor guard in 1957.
Date of death: Tuesday, June 2, 1970
Death details: Killed in Vietnam
Cemetery: Arlington National
Source: National Archives, Spokane Chronicle (1970)
Henry Kennard Weitz, age 20, from Spokane, Washington, Spokane county.
Parents: Henry Weitz
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Monday, April 6, 1970
Death details: Body recovered
Source: National Archives, The Spokane Chronicle 1970
Norman Howard Strength, age 22, from Spokane, Washington, Spokane county.
Parents: Ben B. Strength
Service era: Vietnam
Schools: Attended high school in California
Date of death: Thursday, March 26, 1970
Death details: Killed in Vietnam in a night ambush.
Source: National Archives, Spokesman Review (1970)
Jerry David Denny, age 26, from Spokane, Washington, Spokane county.
Parents: Harry Deny
Spouse: Carma Sue
Children: Lance David, 2; Eric, 8 months
Service era: Vietnam
Schools: Lewis and Clark High (1961), Washington State University (1965)
Date of death: Saturday, January 31, 1970
Death details: Body recovered
Source: National Archives, Spokane Chronicle (1970)
J Forrest Trembley, age 25, from Spokane, Washington, Spokane county.
Service era: Vietnam
Spouse: Married
Parent: Forrest Trembley
Date of death: Monday, August 21, 1967
Death details: On March 24, 2004, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC, now DPAA) identified the remains of Lieutenant Commander J. Forrest Trembley, missing from the Vietnam War.
Lieutenant Commander Trembley, who joined the U.S. Navy from Washington, served with Attack Squadron 196, Carrier Air Wing 14, embarked aboard the USS Constellation (CVA-64). On August 21, 1967, he served on board an A-6A Intruder (bureau number 152627) on a strike mission against enemy targets outside Hanoi, North Vietnam. After completing the strike, this Intruder took a northern egress route over China, where it was shot down by enemy aircraft. Hostile presence in the area inhibited recovery efforts after the crash. In 1999, a joint U.S./Chinese recovery team located the crash site and recovered human remains from the wreckage which were later identified as those of LCDR Trembley.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Timothy F. Hopkins from Spokane, Washington, Spokane county.
Parents: Gordon B. Hopkins
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Friday, March 16, 1962
Death details: Among 93 soldiers aboard a transport plane on a “secret mission” to Vietnam. Wreaths Across America in 2021: “Very little is known about what happened to the plane and its passengers, and due to the circumstance surrounding this mission, the names of those lost have not yet been added to the Vietnam Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C.”
Cemetery: A memorial honoring the lives lost was dedicated in 2021 in Columbia Falls, Maine
Source: Atlanta Counstitution (1962), MauiNow (2021), UPI (1962)
Eugene P. Shauvin, age 25, from Spokane, Washington, Spokane county.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Sunday, September 17, 1944
Death details: On March 2, 2022, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Second Lieutenant Eugene Pershing Shauvin, missing from World War II. Second Lieutenant Pershing Shauvin entered the U.S. Army Air Forces from Washington and served with the 95th Troop Carrier Squadron, 440th Troop Carrier Group. On September 17, 1944, he piloted a C-47 Skytrain (Serial Number 42-100981) with a crew of five and ten pathfinder paratroopers that took off from Chalgrove, England, as part of Operation MARKET GARDEN. The pathfinders were assigned to drop behind enemy lines in the Netherlands to locate drop zones for the main body of paratroopers. The C-47 was hit by anti-aircraft fire over Belgium, causing it to crash. Six members of the aircraft’s crew bailed out before it went down, but the remaining nine men, including 2LT Pershing, were killed in the crash. 2LT Shauvin’s remains were not identified or recovered immediately following the incident. In 2021, a set of unidentified remains that had been recovered from a crash site associated with 2LT Shauvin’s aircraft were accessioned into the DPAA laboratory for identification. This set of remains were eventually identified as those of 2LT Shauvin.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, findagrave.com
Herman Fred Sturmer, age 18, from Spokane, Washington, Spokane county.
Parents: Herman F. Sturmer Sr.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Saturday, November 20, 1943
Death details: On May 16, 2011, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC, now DPAA) identified the remains of Private Herman Fred Sturmer Jr., missing from World War II. Private Sturmer entered the U.S. Marine Corps from Washington and served with Company F, 2nd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division. On November 20, 1943, he was killed during the amphibious assault on Betio Island, as part of the Battle of Tarawa. He was buried on Betio, but his remains were not recovered in the immediate aftermath of the war. In 2002, a construction crew working on Betio recovered human remains and military equipment, and these remains were accessioned to the Central Identification Laboratory-Hawaii (now DPAA). DPAA forensic analysts eventually identified these remains as those of Private Sturmer.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
George H. Jr. Scott, age 22, from Spokane County Spokane, Washington .
Parents: Ada I. and George H. Scott Sr.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Sunday, December 7, 1941
Death details: Killed aboard the USS Arizona
Source: National Archives, Spokane Chronicle (1942)