Promote & Preserve stories of U.S. fallen soldiers/sailors
Christopher Wesley Curry, age 23, from Terre Haute, Indiana, Vigo county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combate Team, 25th Infantry Division, Fort Wainwright, Alaska
Date of death: Monday, May 4, 2020
Death details: Died in Erbil, Iraq from a non-combat related incident
Source: Department of Defense
Arronn D. Fields, age 27, from Terre Haute, Indiana, Vigo county.
Parents: Jackie Pilkin and William L. Fields
Spouse: None
Children: None
Service era: Afghanistan
Schools: Northview High (2003)
Military history: 81st Troop Command, Indiana National Guard, Indianapolis, Ind.
Date of death: Monday, May 21, 2012
Death details: Died in Qal-ah-ye Mirza Jal, Afghanistan of injuries suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with rocket propelled grenades.
Cemetery: Clearview Cemetery in Brazil, Indiana
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times
Dale R. Griffin, age 29, from Terre Haute, Indiana, Vigo county.
Parents: Gene Griffin and Dona Griffin
Service era: Afghanistan
Schools: Terre Haute South High (1999)
Military history: 1st Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, 5th Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Fort Lewis, Washington
Date of death: Tuesday, October 27, 2009
Death details: Died in Arghandab Valley, Afghanistan of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his vehicle with an improvised explosive device.
Cemetery: Terre Haute South
Source: Department of Defense, Roanoke Times, Terre Haute Tribune Star, Military Times
Kyle William Childress, age 29, from Terre Haute, Indiana, Vigo county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: A Troop , 1St Squadron, 4Th Cavalry Regiment, 1St Inf Div, Schweinfurt, Gm
Date of death: Friday, January 21, 2005
Death details: Hostile; Balad, Iraq
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times
Paul Raymond Foltz, age 28, from Vigo County Terre Haute, Indiana .
Parents: Wygonda R. Foltz
Service era: Vietnam
Schools: Wiley High, Indiana State University (1966)
Date of death: Thursday, October 21, 1971
Death details: Killed when his salvage craft came under rocket attack on the Trem Trem River.
Cemetery: Lebanon in Midland, Indiana
Source: National Archives, Terre Haute Star (1971)
Larry James McDowell, age 20, from Terre Haute, Indiana, Vigo county.
Parents: Ray A. McDowell
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Monday, July 27, 1970
Death details: Hostile, wounded in South Vietnam
Source: National Archives, Associated Press (1970)
Karl Wade Lawson, age 27, from Terre Haute, Indiana.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Tuesday, April 9, 1968
Death details: Specialist 4 Karl Wade Lawson entered the U.S. Army from Indiana and was a member of Detachment B-36, Company A, 5th Special Forces Group. On April 9, 1968, while guarding a camp perimeter in the vicinity of grid coordinates YU 282 212 in Phuoc Long Province, South Vietnam, SP4 Lawson was struck and killed by shrapnel from a 175mm artillery shell that fell short of its intended target. A helicopter extracted his body; however, following the extraction, SP4 Lawson’s body was dropped to the ground in the vicinity of grid coordinates YU 265 191. Searches were conducted but were unable to locate his body, and his remains were not recovered. Today, Specialist 4 Lawson is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Herbert Dale Akers, age 18, from Vigo County Terre Haute, Indiana .
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Monday, March 5, 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. Corporal Herbert Dale Akers, who joined the U.S. Army from Indiana, served with Battery A, 82nd Anti-Aircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division. he was captured by enemy forces on December 1, 1950, as his unit provided direct fire support to the 2nd Infantry Division’s withdrawal. He was marched north with other prisoners to a temporary holding camp in the Pukchin-Tarigol Valley, and died there of malnutrition and dysentery on March 5, 1951. He was buried near the camp, however his remains were not recovered or identified after the war. Today, Corporal Akers is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. His name is also inscribed on the Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC, which was updated in 2022 to include the names of the fallen.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Terre Haute Tribune (1950)
Wayne Edward Newton, age 22, from Terre Haute, Indiana, Vigo county.
Parents: William Andrew Newton
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Sunday, December 7, 1941
Death details: Killed aboard the USS California. Remains not recovered
Source: National Archives, Indianapolis Star (1943)