Christopher Lee Everett, age 23, from Huntsville, Texas, Walker county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: Company B, 2D Battalion, 112Th Armor, (1St Coscom), Arlington, Tx
Date of death: Wednesday, September 7, 2005
Death details: Taqqadum, Iraq
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times
Howard Andrew Miller, age 24, from Huntsville, Texas, Walker county.
Spouse: Betty A. Miller
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Thursday, November 2, 1950
Death details: During the last week of October 1950, Republic of Korea (ROK) Army forces under the control of the U.S. Eighth Army were advancing deep in North Korean territory, approaching the Yalu River on the Chinese-Korean border. Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) struck back in a surprise attack, engaging the ROK 1st and 6th Divisions near Unsan, some sixty miles north of Pyongyang. The U.S. 1st Cavalry Division, with the 8th Cavalry Regiment in the lead, was rushed forward to reinforce the ROK units in the Unsan area. On November 1, the regiment’s 1st Battalion took up positions north of Unsan, while the 2nd Battalion moved to guard the Nammyon River valley west of town, and the 3rd Battalion was placed in reserve at the valley’s southern end. First Lieutenant Howard Andrew Miller, who joined the U.S. Army from Texas, was a member of Company B of the 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. By midnight on November 1, 1950, the 8th Cavalry Regiment was forced to withdraw from Unsan to Ipsok to avoid encirclement by the enemy. The CCF had set up several road blocks on the road leaving Unsan, which the withdrawing men had to fight through to reach the assembly area in Ipsok. As the CCF tightened their grip on the road, many soldiers took to the surrounding hills to escape. First Lieutenant Miller went missing during this action. Survivors from the battle indicated he died at one the roadblocks in Unsan during the battle; however, the Chinese also reported that he was taken prisoner and had died in captivity. The detailed circumstances of his loss remain unknown. Today, First Lieutenant Miller is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, McKinney Courier Gazette (1950
Richard Leroy Sweet from Texas, Walker county.
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Sunday, July 16, 1950
Death details: On the evening of July 15, 1950, the U.S. Army’s 19th Infantry Regiment held defensive positions along the south bank of the Kum River. As dusk approached, North Korean People’s Army (NKPA) tanks appeared on the opposite shore and began firing on the U.S. positions. Although U.S. troops repulsed the attacks that evening, the next morning the NKPA crossed the river and launched a major attack against the 19th Regiment. As the regiment began withdrawing south to Taejon, the North Koreans pushed deep into their defensive lines and set up a roadblock en route to Taejon. When retreating American convoys could not break through the roadblock, soldiers were forced to leave the road and attempt to make their way in small groups across the countryside. Of the 900 soldiers in the 19th Infantry when the Battle of Kum River started, only 434 made it to friendly lines. Corporal Richard Leroy Sweet entered the U.S. Army from Texas and served with Company C, 1st Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was captured on July 16, during the Battle of Kum River, while his unit was attempting to withdraw around an enemy roadblock outside Taejon. As a prisoner of war (POW), he was marched to various holding camps before he began a much longer trek to the Apex POW camps along the Yalu River. After reaching the camp at Hanjang-ni, CPL Sweet died of exhaustion and pneumonia on or around December 19. He was buried by his companions near the village; however, his remains were not recovered or identified following the conflict. Today, Corporal Sweet is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
James Earl Smallwood from Huntsville, Texas, Walker county.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Sunday, October 25, 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. Aviation Ordnanceman Third Class James Earl Smallwood entered the U.S. Navy from Texas and served with Patrol Squadron 102 in the Philippines during World War II. He was captured on Corregidor Island following the American surrender on May 6, 1942, and died of dysentery on October 25, 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, Aviation Ordnanceman Third Class Smallwood is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency