Neil David Petsche, age 21, from Lena, Illinois, Stephenson county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: A Co, 1St Bn, 7Th Mar, 31St Meu, 1St Mar Div, Camp Pendleton, Ca
Date of death: Tuesday, December 21, 2004
Death details: Al Qaim, Iraq
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times
Richard P. Jr. Robeson, age 27, from Freeport, Illinois, Stephenson 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.
Cemetery: Calvary in Dayton, Ohio
Source: Charlotte News (1983), Lead Daily Call (1983), Lincoln Star (1982), findagrave.com
Richard Leon Reed, age 21, from Rock City, Illinois, Stephenson county.
Spouse: Katherine L. Reed
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Monday, December 7, 1970
Death details: Hostile, killed in South Vietnam
Source: National Archives, Associated Press (1970)
Jerry Lynn Pool, age 25, from Freeport, Illinois, Stephenson county.
Spouse: Darlene
Children: Son, 3
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Tuesday, March 24, 1970
Death details: On February 15, 2001, Joint Task Force-Full Accounting (JTF-FA, now DPAA) identified the remains of Captain Jerry Lynn Pool, missing from the Vietnam War. Captain Pool joined the U.S. Army from Illinois and was a member of the 5th Special Forces Group. On March 24, 1970, he was a member of a long-range reconnaissance patrol in Ratanakiri Province, Cambodia, that was extracted from the mission area by a UH-1H Iroquois. After picking up the patrol, the Iroquois suffered an explosion that caused it to crash. Captain Pool was killed in the incident. Heavy enemy presence in the area prevented ground investigations of the UH-1H’s crash site at the time. In April 1995, a joint U.S. and Vietnamese search team recovered remains associated with the loss of CPT Pool’s helicopter. In 2001, U.S. analysts identified some of the recovered remains as those of CPT Pool.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
David Russel Krueger, age 22, from Freeport, Illinois, Stephenson county.
Parents: William R. Krueger
Spouse: Judith (Unger)
Service era: Vietnam
Schools: Freeport High, Highland Community College graduate
Date of death: Tuesday, March 17, 1970
Death details: Killed in Vietnam when an enemy booby trap exploded.
Cemetery: Chapel Hill
Source: National Archives, Freeport Journal Standard (1970)
Barry Lee Armstrong, age 19, from Freeport, Illinois, Stephenson county.
Parents: Eugene Armstrong
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Monday, February 2, 1970
Death details: Hostile, killed in South Vietnam
Source: National Archives, Freeport Journal Standard (1970)
Arthur Leon Aloysius Hodapp, age 22, from Freeport, Illinois, Stephenson county.
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Monday, April 23, 1951
Death details: On April 6, 2011, Joint Task Force–Full Accounting (JTF-FA, now DPAA) identified the remains of Private First Class Arthur Leon Aloysius Hodapp, missing from the Korean War. Private First Class Hodapp entered the U.S. Army from Illinois and was a member of Company A, 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Regimental Combat Team (RCT), 24th Infantry Division. He was taken as a prisoner of war (POW) on April 23, 1951, while fighting the enemy near Undam-Jang, South Korea. After his capture, he was eventually interned at POW Camp #1 in North Korea, where he died of dysentery while still captive on July 3, and was buried near the edge of the camp on July 4. His remains were not recovered at the time. In 1993, the North Korean government returned a number of sets of remains to the United States, and U.S. analysts were able to use modern forensic techniques to eventually identify PFC Hodapp among these remains.
Cemetery: Stain Joseph Catholic
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Munster Times (2011), findagrave.com
Ray W. Reed from Illinois, Stephenson county.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Tuesday, August 24, 1943
Death details: Finding of death
Cemetery: Zachary Taylor National
Source: National Archives, grave marker