Nicholas Eugene Thoele, age 19, from Teutopolis, Illinois, Effingham county.
Parents: Maurice J. Thoele
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Sunday, May 24, 1970
Death details: Hostile, killed in South Vietnam
Source: National Archives
Leo George Gill, age 19, from Effingham County Teutopolis, Illinois .
Parents: Burney J. Gill
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Monday, February 12, 1951
Death details: On February 5, 1951, Allied forces in Korea launched an offensive against North Korean and Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) north of Wonju. Republic of Korea units and the 38th Infantry Regiment and supporting artillery units, including the 15th and 503rd Field Artillery Battalions, and the 82nd Antiaircraft Artillery and Automatic Weapons Battalion, initially met light resistance on their drive to the north. On February 11, the CCF launched an aggressive counteroffensive that caused the Allies to withdraw back southward. However, the CCF had established a series of roadblocks on the road to the south, forcing the Allies to fight their way back to friendly lines. Sergeant First Class Leo George Gill entered the U.S. Army from Illinois and was a member of the Medical Company of the 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. On February 12, 1951, he was taken as a prisoner of war (POW) during the 38th Infantry Regiment’s withdrawal, as he attempted to clear a roadblock near Hoengsong, South Korea. After his capture, he was likely marched with other prisoners toward holding camps along the Yalu River in North Korea. He was given a presumptive finding of death of December 31, 1953, as specific details surrounding his loss are unknown. U.S. investigators have not been able to access the POW camps along the Yalu River, and SFC Gill has not been associated with any remains returned to U.S. custody after the war. Today, Sergeant First Class Gill 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, Effingham Daily News (1951)
Leonard Michael Weis, age 22, from Teutopolis, Illinois, Effingham county.
Parents: Leonard B. Weis
Service era: World War II
Military history: Uss Canopus (As-9); United States Navy
Date of death: Wednesday, June 3, 1942
Death details: Following the Allied surrender on the Bataan Peninsula on April 9, 1942, the Japanese began the forcible transfer of American and Filipino prisoners of war to various prison camps in central Luzon, at the northern end of the Philippines. The largest of these camps was the notorious Cabanatuan Prison Camp. At its peak, Cabanatuan held approximately 8,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war that were captured during and after the Fall of Bataan. Camp overcrowding worsened with the arrival of Allied prisoners who had surrendered from Corregidor on May 6, 1942. Conditions at the camp were poor, with food and water extremely limited, leading to widespread malnutrition and outbreaks of malaria and dysentery. By the time the camp was liberated in early 1945, approximately 2,800 Americans had died at Cabanatuan. Prisoners were forced to bury the dead in makeshift communal graves, often completed without records or markers. As a result, identifying and recovering remains interred at Cabanatuan was difficult in the years after the war. Radioman Third Class Leonard M. Weis entered the U.S. Navy from Illinois and served aboard the USS Canopus (AS-9) anchored off Mariveles in the Philippines during the Japanese invasion. In late February 1942, crew members from the Canopus were evacuated to Corregidor to support the 4th Marine Regiment’s defense of the island. After the American surrender on May 6, 1942, RM3 Weis was taken prisoner and interned at the Cabanatuan Prison Camp in Nueva Ecija Province, where he died of heart disease on June 3, 1942. He was buried in a communal grave in the camp cemetery along with other deceased American POWs; however, his remains could not be associated with any remains recovered from Cabanatuan after the war. Today, Radioman Third Class Weis is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency