Francis Pedro Valdez, age 21, from Oshkosh, Wisconsin, Winnebago county.
Parents: Pedrow Valdez
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Sunday, June 7, 1970
Death details: Killed in action in Vietnam. He was scheduled for discharge the following month.
Source: National Archives
Dean Louis Bonneau, age 20, from Oshkosh, Wisconsin, Winnebago county.
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Monday, May 4, 1970
Death details: Killed in Vietnam
Cemetery: Riverside
Source: National Archives, Oshkosh Northwestern (1970)
Gregory William Stoddart, age 21, from Oshkosh, Wisconsin, Winnebago county.
Spouse: Ethel L. Stoddart
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Monday, April 6, 1970
Death details: Non-hostile death in Vietnam
Source: National Archives
Gerald Donald Madel, age 21, from Wisconsin, Winnebago county.
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Wednesday, July 8, 1953
Death details: On July 6, 1953, a large Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) unit attacked and overran the U.S. Army outposts on Pork Chop Hill in an attempt to seize whatever territory possible before the impending armistice agreement. After fighting for the position for four days, on July 10, the 7th Infantry Division Commander determined that the CCF disregard for casualties and desire to hold the outpost outweighed the position’s tactical value, and ordered a withdrawal that was eventually completed on July 11. The U.S. never again controlled Pork Chop Hill, preventing thorough recovery efforts for those who were killed or went missing during the fighting. Sergeant First Class Gerald Donald Madel, who joined the U.S. Army from Wisconsin, served with Company F, 2nd Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on July 8, 1953, after he sustained serious wounds during the battle for Pork Chop Hill. SFC Madel was unable to be located following the battle, and his remains were never recovered. He is still unaccounted-for. Today, Sergeant First Class Madel is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Charles H. Senz from Wisconsin, Winnebago county.
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Saturday, December 2, 1950
Death details:
On the evening of November 27, 1950, Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) launched a massive attack against the U.S. and United Nations troops stationed in the Chosin Reservoir area in northeast North Korea, resulting in a seventeen-day conflict that became known as the Battle of Chosin Reservoir. At the time of the initial CCF attack, members the U.S. Army’s 31st and 32nd Infantry Regiments were defending the area north of Sinhung-ni, on the east side of the reservoir. The defenders were overwhelmed by the numerically superior CCF, and on December 1, were forced to withdraw to friendly lines at Hagaru-ri. Chinese roadblocks from Sinhung-ni to Hagaru-ri along with the constant enemy fire from the surrounding high ground, made the withdrawal route extremely dangerous. Eventually, the column was broken into separate segments, which the CCF attacked individually. Many men were lost or captured during the moving battle, with survivors reaching friendly lines in Hagaru-ri on December 2 and 3.
Corporal Charles Herbert Senz, who joined the U.S. Army from Wisconsin, served with Company B, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He went missing in action on December 2 during the withdrawal to Hagaru-ri. He was not seen to fall in battle, and he was not reported to be a prisoner of war. His remains were not identified among those returned to U.S. custody after the ceasefire. Today, Corporal Senz is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Andrew O. Grignon from Winnebago County Winneconne, Wisconsin .
Parents: Andrew R. Grignon
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Tuesday, January 9, 1945
Death details: On December 13, 1944, Japanese forces in the Philippines began the transfer of 1,621 Allied prisoners of war (POWs) to Japan. The POWs were to make the journey aboard transport ships whose harsh conditions and extreme overcrowding led survivors to refer to them as “Hell Ships.” The ships also lacked markings that would distinguish them from any other military target, causing some of them to be attacked by Allied forces who could not identify them as POW transports. On December 14, 1944, Allied aircraft attacked the first ship, the Oryoku Maru, in Subic Bay in the Philippines, killing many Allied POWs who became lost in the water, sank with the ship, or were washed ashore. Survivors of the bombing were put aboard two other ships, the Enoura Maru and the Brazil Maru, to continue on to Japan. During the journey, while anchored in Takao Harbor, Formosa (present-day Taiwan), the Enoura Maru was attacked by Allied aircraft from the USS Hornet (CV-8), killing Allied POWs who were lost in the water, on board the ship, or on the nearby shore. Survivors of the Enoura Maru bombing were loaded onto the Brazil Maru, and reached Japan on January 30, 1945. As a result of these incidents, Allied POWs were lost in the Philippines, at sea between the Philippines and Taiwan, while anchored in Taiwan, at sea between Taiwan and Japan, and in Japan. The attacks on these POW transports ultimately resulted in a series of death notifications from the Japanese government through the International Red Cross (IRC), and some casualties were given up to five different dates of death at various locations during the transfer. Witness accounts from surviving POWs offer detailed information for a handful of casualties, but the specific dates of loss and/or last-known locations for many of these POWs are based on the most recent reported date of death. Second Lieutenant Andrew O. Grignon entered the U.S. Army from the Wisconsin and served in the 201st Philippine Engineer Battalion (Philippine Scout) in the Philippines during World War II. He was taken as a POW following the Japanese invasion and interned in the islands until December 1944, when he was put aboard the Oryoku Maru for transport to Japan. Records indicate 2LT Grignon was killed several weeks later in the attack on the Enoura Maru; however, these reports often involve information solely furnished by enemy governments, with some casualties given multiple dates of death. Future research may determine that these reports were inaccurate. Second Lieutenant Grignon’s remains could not be identified following the war, and he is still unaccounted-for. Today, Second Lieutenant Grignon is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Oskosh Northwestern (1945)
Elden William Grimm, age 26, from Menasha, Wisconsin, Winnebago county.
Parents: Freda A. Grimm
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Thursday, November 25, 1943
Death details: On September 26, 2017, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Sergeant Elden William Grimm, missing from World War II. Sergeant Grimm, who entered the U.S. Marine Corps from Wisconsin, served with Company A, 1st Battalion, 18th Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division. On November 25, 1943, Sgt Grimm was killed in action during the assault on the Japanese-held atoll of Tarawa. His remains were not recovered at the time. After the war, remains from battlefield cemeteries on Tarawa that could not be identified were disinterred for analysis at the Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii. Remains that still could not be identified were reinterred at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. In 2016, DPAA analysts exhumed a set of these remains and, using modern forensic technology, identified them as those of Sgt Grimm.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Arlyn C. Jacobs from Wisconsin, Winnebago county.
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Friday, July 3, 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 Arlyn C. Jacobs joined the U.S. Army from Wisconsin and was a member of Company H, 60th Coast Artillery Regiment in the Philippines during World War II. He was captured on Corregidor Island following the American surrender on May 6, 1942 and died of malaria on July 3, 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 Jacobs is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
Philip R. Gazecki, age 21, from Winnebago County Menasha, Wisconsin .
Parents: Philip John Gazecki
Service era: World War II
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, Appleton Post Crescent (1941)
Raymond Alfred Nusser, age 24, from Winnebago County Oshkosh, Wisconsin .
Parents: William George Musser
Service era: World War II
Date of death: Sunday, December 7, 1941
Death details: Killed aboard the USS Arizona. Remains not recovered.
Source: National Archives, Oshkosh Northwestern (1941)