Promote & Preserve stories of U.S. fallen soldiers/sailors
Jonam Russell, age 25, from Cornville, Arizona, Yavapai county.
Service era: Afghanistan
Military history: 3rd Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, Georgia
Date of death: Tuesday, July 23, 2013
Death details: Died of wounds suffered when enemy forces attacked his unit with an improvised explosive device. Killed were 1st Lt. Jonam Russell, Sgt. Stefan M. Smith, Spc. Rob L. Nichols
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times
Barett W. McNabb, age 33, from Chino Valley, Arizona, Yavapai county.
Parents: Georgia McNabb and Steve McNabb
Spouse: Georgette McNabb
Children: Two
Service era: Afghanistan
Military history: 562nd Engineer Company, 2nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 2nd Infantry Division, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington.
Date of death: Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Death details: Died in Khakrez, Afghanistan of wounds suffered when he was attacked by an enemy improvised explosive device.
Source: Department of Defense, The Mountain Mail, Military Times
Tenzin Lobsang Samten, age 33, from Prescott, Arizona, Yavapai county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: Hhc, 7Th Sustainment Brigade, Fort Eustis, Va
Date of death: Wednesday, March 12, 2008
Death details: Hostile; Tallil, Iraq
Source: Department of Defense, Military Times
Reece David Moreno, age 19, from Prescott, Arizona, Yavapai county.
Parents: Yolanda
Service era: Iraq
Military history: Hhc, 92Nd Emgineer Battalion, 411Th Engineer Brigade, Fort Stewart, Ga
Date of death: Friday, November 24, 2006
Death details: Died in Balad, Iraq from an accidental gunshot wound. As weapons were unloaded after a mission, one of the weapons discharged, instantly kill him.
Cemetery: Mountain View Cemetery in Prescott; memorialized at the Balboa Naval Hospital in San Diego, where a new pediatric wing was named in his honor
Source: Department of Defense, Arizona Republic, Military Times
Edward Thomas Reeder, age 32, from Camp Verde, Arizona, Yavapai county.
Service era: Iraq
Military history: Btry L, 4Th Bn, 14Th Mar, (Hq Svc Bn, 1St Fssg), 4Th Mar Div, Bessemer, Al
Date of death: Saturday, August 21, 2004
Death details: died in a non-combat related vehicle incident in Al Anbar Province, Iraq.
Source: Department of Defense, U.S. Navy, Military Times
James Williard Fenton, age 23, from Arizona, Yavapai county.
Parents: Forrest B. Fenton
Spouse: Brenda
Children: Tina Sue, James Jr., Tonda Lee, Jeff
Service era: Vietnam
Date of death: Saturday, August 29, 1970
Death details: Died of wounds received in action 16 days earlier in Vietnam
Cemetery: Fort Whipple
Source: National Archives, Arizona Republic (1970)
William Harold Stephens from Yavapai County Prescott, Arizona .
Service era: World War II
Schools: Prescott High, University of Arizona graduate
Date of death: Friday, December 15, 1944
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. Captain William Harold Stephens, who joined the U.S. Army Air Forces from Arizona, served in the Philippines during World War II. He was taken as a POW following the Japanese invasion and was interned in the islands until December 1944, when he was put aboard the Oryoku Maru for transport to Japan. Records indicate CPT Stephens 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. Attempts to locate and identify CPT Stephens’s remains following the end of hostilities were unsuccessful. Today, Captain Stephens is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Arizona Daily Star (1945)