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
Edward Dewilton Jr. Smith from Red Creek, New York, Wayne county.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: March 29, 1972
Death details: On September 10, 1986, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC, now DPAA) identified the remains of Senior Master Sergeant Edward DeWilton Smith Jr., missing from the Vietnam War.
Senior Master Sergeant Smith entered the U.S. Air Force from New York and was a member of the 16th Special Operations Squadron. On March 29, 1972, he was a crew member aboard an AC-130A gunship (tail number 55-0044, nicknamed “Prometheus”) that took off from Ubon Airfield, Thailand, on a night reconnaissance mission to targets east of Savannakhet in southern Laos. The aircraft was shot down by enemy surface-to-air missiles, killing SMSgt Smith and the other crew members. Search and rescue efforts were curtailed due to heavy enemy activity, and no remains could be recovered at that time. Between 1986 and 2006, joint U.S./Laotian teams excavated the crash site in Savannakhet Province and recovered human remains and artifacts. Investigators were able to identify SMSgt Smith among the remains recovered.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
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)
Walter John Bernreuther, age 25, from Macedon, New York, Wayne county.
Parents: Alvin F. and Jane Bernreuther
Service era: Vietnam
Schools: Palmyra-Macedon Central High (1960; Alderson-Broaddus College in West Virginia (1965)
Military history: 35th Infantry Regiment
Date of death: Friday, April 5, 1968
Death details: Hostile, South Vietnam
Cemetery: Allegany Cemetery, Allegany, New York
Source: National Archives, 35th Infantry Regiment Association
Alexander John Menzies, age 20, from Wayne County Walworth, New York .
Service era: Vietnam
Military history: Company B, 1st Battalion, 3rd Marines
Date of death: Saturday, April 2, 1966
Death details: Silver Star citation: “Cpl Menzies’ platoon was pinned down in an open field by an estimated company (strength) of Viet Cong. When one fo the M-60 machineguns ran low of ammunition, Cpl, Menzies, with total disregard for his own safety, crawled through 20 meters of withering enemy small-arms and machinegun fire to obtain needed ammunition. Returning through the same hail of deadly fire, he carried the ammunition back to the machinegun, thereby allowing continued use of the weapon. Observing that his squad leader had been hit…he crawled into the exposed area and pulled him to safety. Returning to his machinegun position, Cpl. Menzies was fatally wounded…He gallantly gave his life in the cause of freedom.”
Source: National Archives, Democrat and Chronicle (1966)
Richard Harold Main, age 21, from Wayne County Palmyra, New York .
Parents: Harold Main
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Friday, February 4, 1966
Death details: Non-hostile, South Vietnam
Cemetery: Palmyra
Source: National Archives, Democrat and Chronicle (1966)
James Alfred Marshall from Newark, New York, Wayne county.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Friday, June 18, 1965
Death details: On June 18, 1965, two B-52F Stratofortresses (tail numbers 57-179 and 57-047) carrying six crew members each collided in mid-air over the South China Sea while en route to Vietnam. Both aircraft were destroyed in the collision. Search and rescue efforts recovered four survivors and the remains of one additional crew member. The remaining seven crew members could not be found.
First Lieutenant James Alfred Marshall, who entered the U.S. Air Force from New York, served with the 441st Bombardment Squadron (Heavy) and was a crew member aboard one of these B-52s. He was lost with his aircraft and remains unaccounted for. Today, First Lieutenant Marshall is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency