During war times, small town America has always answered the call to duty. Many of their young men have been killed in action. One of the most extraordinary sacrifices by a small town in America happened during World War II. In the farming town of Bedford, Virginia, population 3,000, 38 young men had joined Company A in the National Guard. Most had joined during and in the years following the Depression for the $1 a day pay, not anticipating that they would go to war. At the outbreak of the war, they were called to active duty.
On D-Day June 6, 1944, 28 of the 38 sons of Bedford participated in the mass invasion of Normandy, France which would mark the beginning of the end of the war in Europe. On that day 22 of those men would die on Omaha Beach. Most of them were killed in the first minutes of the landing. It was the highest per capita D-Day loss in the nation suffered by one community.
The survivors and the 10 men who joined the fighting a few days later would continue fighting until the war’s end. They returned home, some of them physically wounded and most of them scarred emotionally and mentally by their war experiences. Their stories and the stories of their mothers, fathers, wives, friends, family, small town life and sacrifice are told in the book The Bedford Boys: One American Town’s Ultimate D-Day Sacrifice by Alex Kershaw.
Two sets of brothers, Bedford and Raymond Hoback and Earl and Joseph Parker were among those killed that bloody morning. Their story along with D-Day, the Omaha Beach landing and the Bedford boys is the history that the acclaimed movie Saving Private Ryan is based. Director of the movie Steven Spielberg would donate a large sum to the construction of a National D-Day Memorial located in Bedford, Virginia which opened in 2001.
The National D-Day Memorial honors those brave men who participated in the invasion and the 4,413 Allied soldiers who died that day in the vicious fighting to secure the beachhead.
On this Memorial Day, we honor those men who once lived in the small mining and ranching communities along the Copper Corridor and made the ultimate sacrifice for their country. May we never forget.
The names were gathered from the internet and community memorials. Where more information was available, it was listed. World War II Army dead were the hardest to find. We apologize if we have left anyone out. We would like to learn their names from family, veteran organizations or friends, so they can be honored. If you have names for us to add to these, please email them to editor@minersunbasin.com or johnh@minersunbasin.com.
GLOBE
WORLD WAR I
Henry H. Berry, Louis S. Boyer, Charles C. Hendrickson, Fred Knozvich, Alfred Marlow, Duncan J. Patterson, Dugald L. Pinyan, Henry Pollino, Solamgary D. Tohtieff
WORLD WAR II
Joseph W. Burt Jr., Private, Marne Corps; Vorous W. Collins, Pvt., Marine Corps; Archie Kennedy Cook, Fire Controlman, Navy; Lamar Curtis, Machinist’s Mate, Navy; Archie Lewis Henson, Seaman, Navy; Mike Mitchell Marich, Aviation Chief Ordinance Man, Navy; Joe S. Ramos, PFC, Marine Corps; William Walter Simmons, Machinists Mate, Navy; Albert G. Tapia, PFC, Marine Corps.
VIETNAM
Floyd Andrew Deal, July 17, 1950 – April 7, 1969. Sgt. – E5, Army. Died from gun, small arms fire, Lam Dong, South Vietnam.
Dennis Elbert Gilliland, September 25, 1950 – February 20, 1971. SP-4, Army. Died non-hostile action helicopter crash, Quang Tri, South Vietnam.
James Andrew Lee, September 21, 1946 – October 26, 1966. SN – E3, Navy. Died non-hostile sea casualty, drowned, North Vietnam.
Fernando Mendoza Quintero, March 7, 1930 – February 27, 1968. SFC – E7, Army. Died gun, small arms fire, Long An, South Vietnam.
Paul Frank Sanchez, September 13, 1945 – May 31, 1968. Corporal – E-4, Marine Corps. Died artillery, rocket or mortar, Quang Tri, South Vietnam.
Phillip Warren Tompkins, March 23, 1949 – September 14, 1968. PFC – E-2, Marine Corps. Died gun, small arms fire, Quang Nam, South Vietnam.
HAYDEN
Thomas N. Climo, World War I; Gilbert R. Elliot, WWI; Norman E. Griffin, WWI; Arthur Kello Burkett, Watertender Navy, World War II; James C. Elkner, 1st Lieutenant, Marine Corps, World War II; Joaquin A. Armenta, Korea; Richard Aguirre Contreras, August 25, 1948 – February 22, 1968. PFC, Army. Died from multiple fragmentation wounds, Quang Tin, South Vietnam.
HAYDEN JUNCTION
Henry J. Bates, World War I
KELVIN
Theodore A. Jacobsen, World War I
MAMMOTH
Juan Manuel Garcia, December 27, 1948 – November 20, 1967. PFC, Army. Died from multiple fragmentation wounds, Kontum, South Vietnam.
Arthur Martinez Garcia Jr. – April 15, 1947 – February 7, 1970. Sgt., Marine Corps. Died from gun small arms fire, Thua Thien, South Vietnam.
MIAMI
WORLD WAR I
William R. Burt, Everett A. Crenshaw, Parmer Harrington, Wiley Sheets, William A. Snyder, Arthur A. Wight
WORLD WAR II, KOREA, VIETNAM
Basil M. Abad, James E. Aguilar, James P. Amberson, Howard Bissett, Michael A. Branham, Jose Campos, Joseph Carpenter, Adolph Castellano, Vernon L. Clark, Calvin R. Craig, Antonio F. Diaz, Frank A. Downs Jr., Jimmie Ellis, Talmadge Farley, Jose Gonzalez, Tirso Guzman, Steve Hemovich, Carl B. Hendricks, Lloyd Hendricks, Charles B. Hickox, William J. Horan Jr., Edgar Johnston, James Locklar, Patrick McGinley, Jr., Walter McMillan Jr., Richard Mora, Goy L. Morgan, John M. Netterblad, Ray O’brian, Henry B. Portillo, Rodolfo Rico, Albert Romero, Laurence Russell, Alfred Stoddard, Layton Turner, Aubrey C. Walser, Tommy Williams
ORACLE
William F. Parsons, World War I
Mark Andrew Bateman, May 3, 1947 – October 3, 1967. Corporal, Army. Died from multiple fragmentation wounds, Dinh Tuong, South Vietnam.
SAN CARLOS
Lonnie Allen, Seaman, Navy.
Snyder Burdette, PFC Marine Corps, World War II
Jimmie Patten, March 17, 1941 – January 31, 1968. Sgt. E-5, Army. Died Hostile, ground casualty, other causes, Bien Hoa, South Vietnam.
SAN MANUEL
Tony R. Arriaga, October 7, 1938 – May 6, 1966. Sgt. E-5, Army. Died gun, small arms fire, South Vietnam.
Norman Wayne Garrett, June 23, 1942 – February 15, 1965. Pvt. E-2, Army. Died from hostile artillery, rocket or mortar, South Vietnam.
Gary Everett Graves, April 10, 1948 – November 11, 1968. TM3 – E4, Navy. Died from other explosive device (river mine), Quang Tri, South Vietnam.
Allen Wade Ingram, December 12, 1949 – September 24, 1968. Lance Corporal, Marine Corps. Died from gun small arms fire Quang Tri, South Vietnam.
SUPERIOR
WORLD WAR I
Mancil J. Garrett, William P. Kern
WORLD WAR II
Frank Camarena, Jose M. Carrillo, Jesus Castro, Lupe Chavez, Dan Drakulich, Antonio P. Escalante, William Gastellum, Patrick Gorham Jr., Jesus Q. Guerrero, Henry Gutierrez, Manuel D. Guzman, Ralph R. Haro, Arturo Q. Hernandez, Albert Lira, Nicholas Martinez, George McDaniel Jr., Verne C. Moody, Charles B. Noetzel, Manuel D. Olguin, Rudolph Peralta, Eduardo Ramirez, James Ruiz, John Sandstrum, Robert Villega, Clyde O. Wills
KOREA
Jesus G. Bazan, Ernest Villaverde
VIETNAM
Roy Geread Dorsett, October 11, 1967 – June 29, 1968. Sgt. – E5, Marine Corps. Died from non-hostile accidental self-destruction Thua Thien, South Vietnam.
Leonard Eugene Fritz, December 27, 1949 – November 16, 1967. PFC, Marine Corps. Died from Misadventure (Friendly Fire) Quang Tri, South Vietnam.
Jerrell Ray Jones, October 2, 1949 – October 14, 1969. PFC, Marine Corps. Died from other explosive device Quang Ngai, South Vietnam.
Albert Manuel Mendoza, August 10, 1944 – March 22, 1969. Corporal, Army. Died from multiple fragmentation wounds Hua Nghia, South Vietnam.
Robert Luis Romero, September 2, 1948 – June 5, 1969. PFC, Army. Died from multiple fragmentation wounds Quang Ngai, South Vietnam.
Manuel Gutierrez Ybarra, February 17, 1948 – August 24, 1967. PFC, Marine Corps. Died from hostile artillery, mortar or rocket, Quang Tri, South Vietnam.
TIGER
Billy M. Black, PFC Marine Corps, World War II.
Alonzo Marion Carter, Radio Officer, Merchant Marine, WWII. Aboard the ship Cherokee, sunk off the East Coast June 15, 1942 by a submarine torpedo. 89 crewmen and passengers killed.
WINKELMAN
Frances M. Gregg, World War I
Sharp B. Whitley, World War I
Conrado Francisco Bilducia, January 18, 1947 – March 4, 1968. SP5 – E5, Army. Died from hostile artillery, mortar or rocket, Darlac, South Vietnam.
Carson J. Ramsey, Private, Army. Died October 10, 2004 in Bagdad, Iraq when an Improvised Explosive Device exploded near his military vehicle.