Evan A. Strickland, age 19, from New Mexico, Valencia county.
Service era: Afghanistan
Military history: 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing
Date of death: Wednesday, June 8, 2022
Death details: Died in a training mission when an MV-22B Osprey crashed in the desert of Southern California
Source: U.S. Marines
Joel Anthony Dahl, age 21, from Los Lunas, New Mexico, Valencia county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: Hhc, 2D Battalion, 23D Infantry, 4 Bct, Fort Lewis, Wa
Date of death: Saturday, June 23, 2007
Death details: Hostile; Baghdad, Iraq
Source: Department of Defense, findagrave.com
Tamara Lee Archuleta, age 23, from Los Lunas, New Mexico, Valencia county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: 41St Rescue Squadron, Moody Afb, Georgia
Date of death: Sunday, March 23, 2003
Death details: Near Ghazni, Afghanistan
Source: Department of Defense
Mark Alvan Tafoya, age 20, from Belen, New Mexico, Valencia county.
Parents: Herman Tafoya
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Friday, October 2, 1970
Death details: Died in his sleep in Vietnam from unnknown causes
Source: National Archives, Associated Press (1970)
Paul David Gilman, age 19, from Belen, New Mexico, Valencia county.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Saturday, November 20, 1943
Death details: On May 17, 2018, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Private First Class Paul David Gilman, missing from World War II. Private First Class Gilman, who joined the U.S. Marine Corps from Colorado, was a member of Company M, 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division. He was killed in action on 20 November 1943 during the amphibious assault on Betio Island, also known as the Battle of Tarawa. Private First Class Gilman was buried in a cemetery later designated Cemetery 27, but recovery efforts in 1946 failed to locate the burial site. In 2015, the non-profit organization History Flight, now an external provider of DPAA, located Cemetery 27, and turned the remains over to DPAA for analysis. In 2017, DPAA analysts identified PFC Gilman from among the remains recovered from Cemetery 27.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Jimmie Morris from New Mexico, Valencia county.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Saturday, July 4, 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. Private Jimmie Morris joined the U.S. Army from New Mexico and was a member of Battery A of the 200th Coast Artillery Regiment in the Philippines during World War II. He was captured following the Allied surrender and forced on the Bataan Death March. He was ultimately interned at the Cabanatuan Prison Camp in Nueva Ecija Province, where he died of dysentery on July 4, 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, Private Morris is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Martin A. Tafoya, age 21, from New Mexico, Valencia county.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Tuesday, June 23, 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. Corporal Martin A. Tafoya joined the U.S. Army from New Mexico and served with 515th Coast Artillery Regiment in the Philippines during World War II. He was captured in Bataan following the American surrender and died of disease on June 23, 1942, at the Cabanatuan Prison Camp in Nueva Ecija Province. He was buried in an isolated grave near the camp hospital; however, his remains could not be associated with any remains recovered from Cabanatuan after the war. Today, Corporal Tafoya is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Edward Cordova from New Mexico, Valencia county.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Monday, June 22, 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 and food and water supplied 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. Private Edward Cordova joined the U.S. Army from New Mexico and served with the 200th Coastal Artillery Regiment in the Philippines during World War II. Following the Allied surrender, Private Cordova was forced on the Bataan Death March and ultimately interned at the Cabanatuan Prison Camp, where he died of dysentery and malnutrition on June 22, 1942. Death records maintained by other American POWs at Cabanatuan contained no report on his burial location but noted his remains were possibly cremated. Today, Private Cordova is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Paul C. Guerrera from New Mexico, Valencia county.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Tuesday, June 9, 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. Private Paul C. Guerrera entered the U.S. Army from New Mexico and served with the 515th Coast Artillery Regiment in the Philippines during World War II. He was captured in Bataan following the American surrender on April 9, 1942, and died of dysentery on June 9, 1942, at the Cabanatuan Prison Camp in Nueva Ecija Province. 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, Private Guerrera is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Raymond Edward Livers from Valencia County Belen, New Mexico .
Parents: Ira E. Livers
Service era: World War II
Schools: Balen High (1940)
Date of death: Sunday, December 7, 1941
Death details: Killed aboard the USS Arizona. Remains not recovered.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Albuquerque Tribune (1941)