Promote & Preserve stories of U.S. fallen soldiers/sailors
Riley G. Stephens, age 39, from Tolar, Texas.
Service era: Afghanistan
Military history: 1st Battalion, 3rd Special Forces Group (Airborne), Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
Date of death: Friday, September 28, 2012
Death details: Died of wounds sustained from enemy small arms fire.
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times
William Leslie Brooks, age 36, from Tolar, Texas, Hood county.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Wednesday, April 22, 1970
Death details: On September 1, 1995, Joint Task Force-Full Accounting (JTF-FA, now DPAA) identified the remains of Colonel William Leslie Brooks, missing from the Vietnam War.
Colonel Brooks joined the U.S. Air Force from Texas and was a member of the 16th Special Operations Squadron. On April 22, 1970, he was the pilot of an AC-130 gunship (serial number 54-1625) on an armed reconnaissance mission over enemy targets in Saravane Province, Laos. The AC-130 was downed by anti-aircraft fire during the mission, and Col Brooks was killed in the crash. Search and rescue efforts were unable to locate his body immediately following the incident. In November 1993, a joint U.S. and Laotian investigative team recovered remains from a crash site associated with this AC-130. In 1995, forensic analysis identified some of the recovered remains as those of Col Brooks.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency