Promote & Preserve stories of U.S. fallen soldiers/sailors
Leevi Khole Barnard, age 28, from Mount Airy, North Carolina, Surry county.
Parents: Pam B. Payne and Geoffrey Gordon
Service era: Iraq
Military history: Hhc, 1St Battalion, 252D Combined Arms, Fayetteville, North Carolina
Date of death: Thursday, May 21, 2009
Death details: Hostile; Baghdad, Iraq
Cemetery: Barnard Family Cemetery
Source: Department of Defense, Charlotte Observer, Military Times
Adam Lee Marion, age 26, from Mount Airy, North Carolina, Surry county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: 171St Engineer Company, 105Th Engineer Battalion, 130Th Meb, 24Th Id, Saint Pauls, North Carolina
Date of death: Monday, April 28, 2008
Death details: Hostile; Baghdad, Iraq
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times
Anton Jesean Hiett, age 25, from Mount Airy, North Carolina, Surry county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: Hhc, 391St Engineer Battalion, Greenville, Sc
Date of death: Sunday, March 12, 2006
Death details: Hostile; Asadabad, Afghanistan
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times
Harlan Kenneth Jr. Gammons, age 20, from Mount Airy, North Carolina, Surry county.
Spouse: Frankie D. Gammons
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Friday, January 9, 1970
Death details: Killed in action
Source: National Archives, UPI (1970)
Christopher Columbus Jr. Marion, age 22, from Surry County Mount Airy, North Carolina .
Spouse: Thelma Marion
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Tuesday, January 30, 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. Sergeant First Class Christopher Columbus Marion Jr., who joined the U.S. Army from North Carolina, served with the Headquarters, Headquarters and Service Company of the 2nd Engineer Combat Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division. He was captured by enemy forces during his unit’s withdrawal from Kunu-ri to Sunchon. He and a large group of other prisoners were marched to the Pukchin-Tarigol Valley, where he died on January 30, 1951, of malnutrition while under the care of a captured Army doctor. His remains have not been recovered. Today, Sergeant First Class Marion is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Statesville Daily Record (1951)