Tag: Stratford Connecticut

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Cortes – Torres, Angel
Army Private

Angel Cortes – Torres, age 29, from Stratford, Connecticut.

Parents: Angel Iram Cortes and Maria Veronica Torres
Spouse: Diana Sarai Lanche
Children: None

Parents: Angel Iram Cortes and Maria Veronica Torres

Service era: Afghanistan
Schools: J.M. Wright Technical School (2008)
Military history: Connecticut National Guard

Date of death: Tuesday, March 10, 2020
Death details: Died during Basic Combat Training at Fort Jackson, South Carolina. Suffered a medical emergency while conducting a non-strenuous activity.

Source: Stars and Stripe, CT Post, KNSI, Legacy

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Lerner, Irwin Stuart
Air Force Major

Irwin Stuart Lerner from Stratford, Connecticut.

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: December 20, 1972
Death details: On September 29, 2003, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC, now DPAA) identified the remains of Major Irwin Stuart Lerner, missing from the Vietnam War.
Major Lerner joined the U.S. Air Force from New York and was a member of the 346th Bombardment Squadron. On December 20, 1972, he was the electronic warfare officer aboard a B-52D Stratofortress on a bombing mission against enemy targets in Hanoi, Vietnam. The B-52D was shot down by a surface-to-air missile during the mission, and Maj Lerner was killed in the resulting crash. Enemy control of the area prevented search efforts for those lost in the incident. After the war, joint U.S. and Vietnamese search teams investigated the B-52D’s crash site. In 1986, Vietnamese officials turned over a set of remains that had been recovered from the site to U.S. custody. Advances in forensic techniques eventually allowed for the remains to be identified as those of Maj Lerner.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

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Korponai, Zigmond Anthony
Navy Chief torpedoman’s mate

Zigmond Anthony Korponai from Stratford, Connecticut, Fairfield county.

Spouse: Mary Korponai

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