York County Pennsylvania

Smeltzer, Charles E. III
Army Sergeant

Charles E. III Smeltzer, age 21, from York, Pennsylvania, York county.

Parents: Charles E. Smeltzer Jr.

Service era: Vietnam
Schools: William Penn Senior High (1967), York Junior College

Date of death: Friday, February 13, 1970
Death details: Hostile, killed in South Vietnam. Silver Star citation: “Acting with tactical deliberation, Sgt. Smeltzer notified the rest of the unit and then with complete disregard for his personal safety, explosed himself to the enemy fire while directing his men into a more protected position where they could place effective counter-fire on the aggressors, and while psitioning his comrades, Sgt. Smeltzer was mortally wounded.”

Source: National Archives, York Dispatch (1970)

Fuhrman, James Michael
Marines Lance-Corporal

James Michael Fuhrman, age 20, from York, Pennsylvania, York county.

Parents: Russell W. Fuhrman
Spouse: JoAnn Rose Fuhrman
Children: Michael, 7 months

Service era: Vietnam
Schools: William Penn Senior High (1968)

Date of death: Saturday, February 7, 1970
Death details: Hostile, killed in South Vietnam.

Source: National Archives, York Daily Record (1970), Gazette and Daily (1970)

Brown, James Brent
Army Specialist 4

James Brent Brown, age 20, from York, Pennsylvania, York county.

Parents: Marie Talley

Service era: Vietnam

Date of death: Sunday, February 1, 1970
Death details: Hostile, killed in South Vietnam.
Cemetery: Lebanon

Source: National Archives, York Dispatch (1970)

Smith, William Leon
Army Private 1st class

William Leon Smith from Pennsylvania, York county.

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Tuesday, February 20, 1951
Death details: On July 11, 1950, the U.S. Army’s 21st Infantry Regiment, which had arrived in Korea six days earlier, was placed in defensive positions near the town of Chochiwon, South Korea. The regiment was not at full strength and lacked artillery and anti-tank weapons. That day, they were attacked by North Korean forces and were forced to withdraw to avoid being surrounded, as well as to buy time until they could be reinforced and resupplied. Corporal William Leon Smith, who joined the U.S. Army from Pennsylvania, served with I Company, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was captured by enemy forces north of Chochiwon on July 12, and forced to march to the Apex prison camps in North Korea. He died of malnutrition at the camp at Hanjang-ni on February 20, 1951. Although he was buried near the camp, his remains were not identified among those returned to U.S. custody after the ceasefire. Today, Corporal Smith is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Kyle, John
Army Private 1st class

John Kyle, age 18, from York, Pennsylvania, York county.

Parents: Margaret W. Kyle

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. Corporal John Kyle joined the U.S. Army from Pennsylvania and was a member of Company M, 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. On November 2, 1950, Company M was serving as a security unit for the 3rd Battalion Command Post near Unsan when it was hit by an enemy attack and forced to withdraw. Corporal Kyle was reported missing during the withdrawal and could not be located following the incident, though the specific details surrounding his loss are unknown. He was never reported as a prisoner of war, and his remains were not identified among those returned to the U.S. following the war. Today, Corporal Kyle is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, York Daily Record (1950)

Markle, Earl Henry
Army Private 1st class

Earl Henry Markle, age 19, from Spring Grove, Pennsylvania, York county.

Parents: Edna E. Markle

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Thursday, November 2, 1950
Death details: On May 17, 2019, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced it has identified the remains of Corporal Earl Henry Markle, missing from the Korean War. Corporal Markle joined the U.S. Army from Pennsylvania and was a member of Company M, 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. On November 2, 1950, Company M was serving as a security unit with the 3rd Battalion near Unsan, north of Pyongyang, North Korea, when it was attacked by the enemy and forced to withdraw from the area. CPL Markle went missing during the withdrawal, but the specific details surrounding his loss were not known at the time. He was not identified among remains recovered at the time or following the close of hostilities. In June 2018, the North Korean government repatriated to the U.S. government boxes of human remains, which included the remains of soldiers lost in the fighting at Unsan. DPAA analysts used modern forensic techniques to identify CPL Markle from among these remains.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Hanover Evening Sun (1954)

Jenkins, Francis Regis
Army Private 1st class

Francis Regis Jenkins, age 40, from Pennsylvania, York county.

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. Master Sergeant Francis Regis Jenkins joined the U.S. Army from Pennsylvania and was a member of Company M, 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. On November 2, 1950, Company M was providing security for the 3rd Battalion Command Post near Unsan when it was hit by an enemy attack and forced to withdraw. The Battalion soon became surrounded and Master Sergeant Jenkins was lost during the fighting though specific details regarding his loss are unknown. He was never reported as a prisoner of war, and his remains were not identified among those returned to the U.S. following the war. Today, Master Sergeant Jenkins is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Gettysburg Times (1955)

Fetrow, Grant Riston
Army Master sergeant

Grant Riston Fetrow, age 27, from Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania, York county.

Spouse: Hilda R. Fetrow

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. Master Sergeant Grant R. Fetrow, who joined the U.S. Army from Pennsylvania, was a member of Headquarters Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. On November 1, 1950, Headquarters Company along with the rest of 2nd Battalion was hit by an enemy attack near Unsan and forced to withdraw. Master Sergeant Fetrow went missing during this action. A battalion operations officer who returned after being released as a prisoner of war reported that he had heard that MSG Fetrow died of wounds he received in the 3rd Battalion defense perimeter. The Master Sergeant was not identified among the remains returned to U.S. custody after the ceasefire. Today, Master Sergeant Fetrow is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Latrobe Bulletin (1954)

Frutiger, Thomas W.
Army 1st lieutenant

Thomas W. Frutiger, age 43, from York County Red Lion, Pennsylvania .

Parents: William C. Frutiger
Spouse: Anne Frutiger
Children: Thomas W. Frutiger Jr. and Robert Frutiger

Service era: World War II
Schools: Red Lion High (1928), Lehigh University (1933)

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. First Lieutenant Thomas W. Frutiger entered the U.S. Army from Pennsylvania and served in the 454th Ordnance Company (Aviation) 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 1LT Frutiger 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. First Lieutenant Frutiger’s remains could not be identified among those recovered from the area following the war, and he is still unaccounted-for. Today, First Lieutenant Frutiger is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Gazette and Daily (1945)

Livelsberger, Leon J.
Army Private

Leon J. Livelsberger from Pennsylvania, York county.

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Tuesday, July 7, 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 Leon J. Livelsberger entered the U.S. Army Air Forces from Pennsylvania and served with Headquarters Squadron, 19th Bombardment Group in the Philippines during World War II. He was captured in Bataan following the American surrender on April 9, 1942, and died of dysentery on July 7, 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 Livelsberger is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Load More
Back To Top