Promote & Preserve stories of U.S. fallen soldiers/sailors
Jonathan Edward Lootens, age 25, from Lyons, New York, Wayne county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: 35th Infantry Regiment
Date of death: Sunday, October 15, 2006
Death details: Killed by improvised explosive device in Kirkuk, Iraq
Cemetery: Saint Francis in Phelps, New York
Source: Department of Defense, 35th Infantry Regiment Association
Todd Thomas Tatham, age 19, from Wolcott, New York, Wayne county.
Service era: Cold War
Date of death: Wednesday, April 19, 1989
Death details: Killed in accidental explosion aboard the USS Iowa just off Puerto Rico
Source: Iowa Daily Press, UPI
John Dewey Livingston, age 20, from Red Creek, New York, Wayne county.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Friday, October 16, 1970
Death details: Hostile, South Vietnam
Source: National Archives
John Edward Crowley, age 20, from Williamson, New York, Wayne county.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Monday, August 10, 1970
Death details: Hostile, died missing, Laos
Source: National Archives
Kenneth Edwin Koch, age 20, from Macedon, New York, Wayne county.
Parents: Edwin Koch
Spouse: Linda Oney Koch (married 5 months)
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Wednesday, January 28, 1970
Death details: Hostile, South Vietnam
Source: National Archives, Democrat and Chronicle (1970)
John Blakeslee Thomas from New York, Wayne county.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Sunday, August 1, 1943
Death details: On August 1, 1943, a B-24D Liberator nicknamed “Aire Lobo” (serial number 42-40312) took off from Benina, Libya, with ten crew members aboard. The bomber joined over 175 other heavy bombers for a bombing raid on the critical Axis oil refineries at Ploesti, Romania. The American formation flew at extremely low altitude to breach the air-defenses around the refineries. On the approach to Ploesti, the bombers encountered heavy anti-aircraft fire and “Aire Lobo” was damaged. Shortly after dropping its bombs, the Liberator was struck by anti-aircraft fire again, this time in the cockpit, and the aircraft crashed near the target. Six crew members from “Aire Lobo” have been recovered and identified since the end of the war, but the other four men lost during the raid on Ploesti remain unaccounted-for. First Lieutenant John B. Thomas entered the U.S. Army Air Forces from Texas and served with the 345th Bombardment Squadron, 98th Bombardment Group (Heavy). He was the pilot of this Liberator when it was lost, and his remains were not recovered following the war. Today, First Lieutenant Thomas is memorialized on the Tablets of the Missing at the Florence American Cemetery in Impruneta, Italy.
Source: National Archives, findagrave.com