In Memoriam

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28 September 2011

US Army 10th Mountain Division First Sergeant Billy J. Siercks died in Landstuhl, Germany on 28th September 2011 from injuries he received during a contact with enemy forces in Logar, Afghanistan, the previous day.

32-year-old Sgt. Siercks, from Velda Village, Missouri, served with the 2nd Battalion, 10th Aviation Regiment, 10th Combat Aviation Brigade, based at Fort Drum, New York.

Article and photo from local paper.

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Vietnam

Missing Vietnam War Soldiers Identified

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of three servicemen, missing in action from the Vietnam War, have been identified and returned to their families for burial with full military honors.

Master Sgt. Charles V. Newton of Canadian, Texas; Sgt. 1st Class Douglas E. Dahill of Lima, Ohio; and Sgt. 1st Class Charles F. Prevedel of St. Louis, Mo., all U.S. Army, will be buried as a group on Oct. 5 at Arlington National Cemetery. Newton was also individually identified and will be interred individually at Arlington on the same day as the group interment. On April 17, 1969, the men and three Vietnamese soldiers were on a long-range reconnaissance patrol operating in Quang Nam Province, Vietnam, near the border of Laos. That afternoon the patrol was ambushed by enemy forces and radioed for air support but thunderstorms in the area prevented rescue attempts. Search and rescue teams reached the site the next day but over the next week found no signs of the men.

Between 1990 and 1993,joint U.S./Socialist Republic of Vietnam (S.R.V.) teams, led by Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC), interviewed witnesses, investigated leads and excavated the site associated with the ambush. The teams recovered human remains, personal effects and military equipment. In 2003, some of the recovered remains were identified as those of Prevedel. In 2006 and 2007, joint U.S./S.R.V. teams returned to the site and recovered additional remains and military equipment.

Among other forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from the JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory also used dental comparisons and mitochondrial DNA in the identification of the remains.

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Korea

U.S. Soldier MIA from Korean War Identified

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a serviceman, missing in action from the Korean War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

Army Cpl. Edward M. Pedregon of El Paso, Texas, will be buried on Oct. 6 in Arlington National Cemetery. A memorial service was held in San Elizario, Texas, on Oct. 1. In late November 1950 Pedregon and the Heavy Mortar Company, of the 31st Regimental Combat Team – known as Task Force Faith – were overrun by Chinese forces near the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea. After several days of heavy attacks, Task Force Faith was forced to withdraw, but was stopped by enemy blockades that overpowered them on Dec. 2, 1950. Pedregon was reported missing in action on Nov. 30, 1950.

In 1953, following the exchange of all prisoners of war by both sides of the conflict, no further information was gained to indicate that Pedregon had been held as a prisoner of war, and he was declared dead.

In 2004, a joint U.S./Korean People’s Army team excavated several sites in the Chosin Reservoir area and recovered the remains of at least nine individuals and military equipment. The location of the remains corresponds to the positions temporarily held by elements of Task Force Faith in late November 1950.

Among forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, scientists from the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory used dental records, and mitochondrial DNA – which matched that of Pedregon’s mother and brother—in the identification of the remains.

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Poland

Polish Army Lance Corporal Rafal Nowakowski was killed in action on 4th October 2011 in Ghazni province when a bomb exploded beneath the armored vehicle he was in.

30-year-old L-Cpl. Nowakowski served as a rifleman with the 17th Wielkopolska Mechanised Brigade based at Międzyrzec. He had been in the Polish Army since 2003.

Two other soldiers were wounded and their condition has been described as “stable”.

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Update, of sorts, from a previous post.

http://www.creators.com/opinion/connie-schultz.html