Posted on 05/28/2012 9:58:35 PM PDT by moonshot925
My grandfather is buried at Meuse-Argonne American Cemetery in France.
Private James Henry Barnett.
His unit was Company C, 128th Infantry Regiment, 32nd Infantry Division
Born on December 3, 1893 and was killed on October 17, 1918. He was 24 years old.
An average of 530 Americans were killed a day during the Battle of the Meuse-Argonne Forest.
Lest we forget.
Do participants in the Whiskey Rebellion count?
Mercifully, the only KIA I know of is a great uncle who died on the Somme in WW I — as an Irishman serving in the British Army.
My Uncle Richard was killed in France in World War II. He was 19 and my Mom, his little sister was 3. I believe it was July 4, 1944. He parachuted in on D-Day.
My great-grandfather had died in a hurricane when my grandfather was only 9 months old, so he was raised by his uncles and grew up with Lewis and his other cousins.
My dad was on the Marblehead which was fighting with the Houston in that area, the Marblehead was already out of the fight by 3 weeks and trying to get to Ceylon by the time of the Sunda Strait though.
Civil War's another matter. Kin on both sides, Iowa and Virginia, and they didn't all come back. Family tradition has them actually shooting at one another but I've never been able to find a battle that fits the units.
My uncle, for whom I was named, is listed as MIA in 1945. He was a Naval Aviator and an “Ace”. He came in from a mission and then volunteered for a subsequent mission right after landing. He took off from the deck (F4F) of the USS Yorktown and then pitched straight down. The carrier’s bow apparently sidewiped the plane as it floated. My uncle was last seen off the stern of the ship. It shortly thereafter, sank. His brother, my father, was with the 498th Bomber Group (B-29s) on Saipan at the same time. The 498th bombed Japan in extensive raids.
He, my uncle, also flew 13 sorties in the south of France earlier in the war in Opération Preface-Dragoon, August 15 - 29, 1944 Observation Fighting Squadron ONE (VOF-1)
Escort-Carrier USS TULAGI (CVE-72). I am not sure what other operations he participated in while on the Tulagi.
My great uncle Lt. William Carpenter, Normandy June 1944.
My uncle, for whom I am named, on the Bataan death march in the Philippines, 1942.
My uncle George was on Bataan. He lived through the march but died at Camp O’Donnel in August of 1944.
Private Francis Allen McDonald
Signed up for the draft September 12, 1918.
Killed in Action October 23, 1918
Buried at Meuse-Argonne Cemetery.
My Grand Uncle
My uncle Tom McGrath, XO on the submarine, USS Pompano. Lost with all hands in October 1943.
http://www.history.navy.mil/library/online/sublosses/sublosses_pompano.htm
My uncle, a Marine, was killed at Iwo Jima (I believe I have the facts right, my Dad barely ever mentioned it). He is buried in Hawaii.
My brother was killed in Viet Nam in ‘68. At that time not old enough to vote but old enough to fight.
KIA?
Yes, my family lost every male member over the age of 13 during the Civil War, a total of 14 including both of my great-great grandfathers. They were all members of various Arkansas Infantry Regiments.
I’ve got a great uncle buried in France, killed on November 10, 1918, 26 years old.
I join in your comemmoration of your family’s service.
My direct line had participants in the Revolutionary, 1812, Civil, Second World and First Gulf Wars. One came back with heart trouble, one slightly wounded, and all (so far) died in their beds old and full of years.
(Also, my Dad served during, but not in, Vietnam. I missed Panama by being 3/4 miles down Ardennes from those who went— then went to GWI.)
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