The Tom Green County Memorial Day List

They shall beat their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war any more.

— Isaiah 2:4

Americans have been called upon to defend our nation from enemies, foreign and domestic, in conflicts at home and abroad, since the establishment of the country in 1776.

Every Memorial Day, we honor the individuals who have made the ultimate sacrifice to the country, pausing to remember what they gave in order for our freedoms to continue.

Originally observed as Decoration Day after the Civil War, families marked the day by placing flowers on the graves of loved ones they had lost in battle.

In 1868, Gen. John A. Logan proclaimed May 30 as a day to decorate the graves of Union soldiers, leading to the wide commemoration of the day.

New York made it a legal holiday in 1873, and the U.S. Congress recognized Memorial Day as a federal holiday in 1971.

The True Cost of War

According to the most recent information from the Department of Veterans Affairs, the number of U.S. military members serving during wartime, from 1776 through 1991, stood at 41,892,218; with battle deaths numbering 651,031, other deaths in theaters of war numbering 308,800 and other wartime deaths outside the war zone numbering 230,254.

That totals 1,190,085 service members who died up through the end of the Gulf War operations of Desert Shield and Desert Storm.

Since the Global War on Terror began in 2001, 7,089 Americans have been killed in operations Enduring Freedom, Iraqi Freedom, New Dawn, Inherent Resolve and Freedom’s Sentinel, according to data from the Defense Casualty Analysis System, as of May 26, 2025, bringing the total to 1,197,174.

That number does not include every Airman, Marine, Sailor and Soldier who perished during training-exercise accidents, and other unplanned events while serving in non-war years.

Texans Serve

According to the Texas Almanac, during the US Civil War, 65,000 to 70,000 men served in uniform, representing about 10 percent of the state’s population at that time.

About 24,000 of them died, a loss of about one-third of their number, and a further 10,000 soldiers came home maimed or otherwise permanently impaired.

In World War I, most of the 2,794 Texas soldier who died only reached the battlefield a few months before the Armistice was signed on Nov. 11, 1918, and many died of disease from exposure to the unsanitary conditions in the trenches.

According to Defense Department information, during World War II, 15,764 Texans died serving their country.

Three of them from San Angelo died on the very first day.

The Sailors Aboard USS Arizona

On Dec. 7, 1941, the unthinkable happened.

The Japanese attack that brought America into World War II, officially and instantly, killed 2,341 service members, and 62 civilians, seriously damaging or sinking about 20 Navy vessels, including the battleship U.S.S. Arizona, which had a total of 1,177 crew members, including a Marine detachment who were killed. Only 334 survived.

Ninety-five of the men aboard the Arizona were from Texas, and 86 of them died that morning.

Boatswain’s Mate 1st Class James A. Martin

According to his biography, Albert Martin spent his adult life aboard the U.S.S. Arizona.

Martin was born Oct. 12, 1914, and enlisted in the Navy in 1933.

He went aboard the U.S.S. Arizona the summer of ’41. He was a deep-sea diver who was commended for bravery in May of that year when he helped rescue the crew of a boat grounded on a reef.

He swam a line from a salvage boat through heavy surf to the stranded sailors.

He also played left end on the Arizona’s football team, competing against teams from other ships.

Seaman 1st Class Walton A. Erwin.

Walton Aluard Erwin was born June 27, 1921, in Nimrod, Texas, about 115 miles northeast of San Angelo.

He lived at 1008 Orient St. with his parents George and Bertha, and graduated from San Angelo High School in 1940 before enlisting in the Navy that November.

He was a seaman first class on the U.S.S. Arizona when he was killed in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, Dec. 7, 1941.

James R. Lynch Jr.

James R. Lynch Jr. worked as a used car salesman at Bailey Auto Co. in San Angelo before enlisting in the Navy in August 1940.

Originally from Blanket, halfway between Brownwood and Comanche, he had plenty of family in town, including an aunt on East Harris Avenue, and a cousin who worked for the city manager.

He had last visited San Angelo in November of 1940, following his training in San Diego.

More than two weeks after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, his family had yet to receive any news about Lynch, a Seaman First Class and gunner aboard the USS Arizona.

According to a news report on Dec. 23, 1941, another Blanket man who was a member of the fire department in Pearl Harbor wrote to his relatives in Texas to let them know that James was among the casualties.

His brother, Perry Lynch, serving aboard the USS Elliott in the Atlantic, had sent letters home postmarked from the ship on Dec. 14 and 18 telling his parents he was unable to learn anything about the fate of his brother.

A fourth San Angelo man, Gunner’s Mate 1st Class Ernest M. Shawn was initially believed to have perished in the attack on the Arizona, but survived by diving overboard before the battleship sank.

He was reassigned to the U.S.S. Talbot, and went on to see action in the Battle of Midway and the Solomons Islands campaign. Discharged from the Navy in August of 1945, he in 1998, and is buried at Belvedere Cemetery.

THE TOM GREEN COUNTY HONOR ROLL

Following is the most complete list of Tom Green County residents who have died in service to our country, from World War I to the present, compiled from local and national records. Comprehensive records for deaths before this time are not readily available.

WORLD WAR I

Byrd, Eddie C, Pvt., KIA
Goodfellow, John J Jr., LT., KIA
Huff, Henry H, PVT, KIA
Millar, Garland, PVT, KIA
Porter, Charles F, PVT, DD
Sawyer, John D, PVT, DD
Singletary, Walter C, PVT, KIA
Stokes, Jessie S, PVT, DD

The Mathis brothers, Jack and Mark, were born in San Angelo, but raised in Sterling City, and both give their lives in WWII.

WORLD WAR II

ARMY AND ARMY AIR CORPS LIST

Alvarado, Daniel L, PVT, DNB
Armstrong, William H, CPL, KIA
Bailey, John R Jr., 2LT, FOD
Balch, Bob, MAJ, DOW
Bierwirth, Herman L.E., 1LT, KIA
Bingham, Jack E, PFC, KIA
Bledsoe, Joesph F, SSG, KIA
Bodenheimer, Charles, SSG, KIA
Brown, Jack T, PVT, KIA
Bryant, M.D. Jr, AV G, DNB
Caldwell, Alton H, SGT, DNB
Carlock, Olvis O, TEC 4, KIA
Coss, Clarence A, PFC, DOW
Couch, Jessie T, Jr., PFC, DOW
Coulter, Austin N., TSG, DNB
Cox, Vernon E, PVT, FOD
Craft, Robert B, CPL, DOW
Day, Joseph M, 2LT, DOW
Deats, Louis F Jr., CPL, DNB
Dickens, Allen Jr., 1LT, DNB
Dudley, Joseph B, PFC, DOW
Enriquez, Hiram R, SGT, KIA
Evans, Joseph P, SGT, KIA
Flores, Basilio, PVT, KIA
Ford, John F Jr., PVT, DNB
Fulghum, Rex A, 2LT, DNB
Gallaway, Marion L, SSG, KIA
Garcia, Jesus V, TEC5, KIA
Garcia, Trinidad, PVT, KIA
Guttery, Gordon L, PVT, KIA
Hanson, Ray, G, 1LT, DNB
Hines, George C, MAJ, KIA
Holcomb, Robert L, PFC, DNB
Holland, Raymond G, PFC, KIA
Hyatt, John L, PFC, KIA
Jackson, Henry D, 1LT, KIA
Jennings, Ralph, 1LT, KIA
Jones, James A, PVT, DNB
Kindred, Roy E, 2LT, KIA
King, John M, T SG, KIA
King, Robert C., 2LT, KIA
Landers, Frank B., PFC, KIA
Lane, Vernon E., PFC, DOW
Lindsey, Lewis W, PVT, DNB
Louis, George W, PVT, DNB
Martin, Robert E, S SG, DNB
Mathis, Jack W, 1 LT, KIA
Mathis, Rhude M Jr., 2 LT, FOD
Mattson, Hilding H, PVT, DNB
Meadows, Raymond H, CAPT, DNB
McCall, James S, PVT, KIA
McCullough, Felix E, S SG, KIA
Melton, Howard W, 2 LT, DNB
Mercer, Lloyd C, 2 LT, DNB
Miller, Melvin W, 1 LT, KIA
Millsap, James, 2 LT, FOD
Mitchiner, James R., SGT, KIA
Mixson, Samuel F., PFC, DNB
Noble, Jose R, 2 LT, DNB
Paiz, Aldolpho R, PFC, KIA
Parker, Edward, TEC 4, DNB
Potter, David E, 1 LT, DNB
Pratt, William C Jr., 2 LT, KIA
Quiett, James A, SGT, KIA
Rau, William C Jr., 2 LT, KIA
Reyes, Clayton F, CPL, DNB
Ricker, James H, PFC, KIA
Rivera, Concepcion M, PFC, DOW
Robbins, Maurice D, SGT, KIA
Robinson, L.L., PVT, DNB
Rodriguez, Ramon M, PVT, KIA
Russell, Cyril F, Jr., 2 LT, KIA
Schindler, Edward R, 2 LT, DNB
Sherrod, William E, PVT, DNB
Simmons, Edward C, 2 LT, DNB
Skelton, James W, PFC, KIA
Smith, Harold W, PFC, KIA
Smith, Millard P, 2 LT, DNB
Sowell, Nolen B, 1 LT, DNB
Sparks, Boyd, PFC, KIA
Steele, Finley K, 2 LT, DNB
Stluka, Ernest B, S SG, DNB
Stout, James M, S SG, DNB
Stovall, Robert M, SGT, DNB
Tackett, Charles P, TEC 5, DOW
Talley, Robert S, 2 LT, DNB
Taylor, James H., S SG, KIA
Teague, Sammie E Jr., FLO, DNB
Trenidad, Hermilio R, PFC, KIA
Tucker, Loncie L Jr., 2 LT, DNB
Velasquez, Seberiano, PVT, KIA
Walker, Lee R, PFC, KIA
Walters, Lester R, 1 LT, DNB
Wetzel, Bob W, SGT, KIA
White, Jack, PFC, DNB
Wilkinson, Thomas C, CAPT, KIA
Williams, Billy D, PFC, DNB
Willaims, Leon J, PFC, KIA
Williams, Louis M, 2 LT, DNB
Williams, Wilbur, PFC, KIA
Witt, Alden R, 1 LT, DNB
Young, Carlos R, PFC, DNB
Zuniga, Pedro G, PFC, DOW

NAVY DEPT. LIST

Allen, Ezekiel C, Marine TSGT
Brown, Milton V, Navy, MATE 2C
Braddock, Abraham S, Marine PFC
Erwin, Walton A, Navy, Seaman 1C
Forehand, Tony A, Navy Res., Seaman 1C
Harber, Emmit D, Navy, Cook 3C
Hawkins, Jewel T, Marine Res., SSGT
Jaramillo, Alexander, Marine PFC
Johnson, Earnest, Navy Res., MATE 2C
Jones, Jesse V., Marine PFC
Keefer, Roy C, Navy, Baker 2C
Kollmyer, Kenneth L, Navy Res., LT JG
Lane, Martin E, Navy Res., Seaman 1C
Littlefield, Elgin P, Marine Res., PFC
Looney, Hollis B, Navy Res., Radioman 3C
Lynch, James R Jr., Navy, Seaman 1C
Martin, James A, Navy, Boatswain Mate 1C
McElroy, Leroy, Navy Res., LT
Moran, Pete T, Marine Res., PFC
Ogden, Norman G., Navy Res., Seaman 2C
Ripple, Kenneth W, Marine PFC
Schnackel, Louis G Jr., Navy, Fireman 2C
Selden, Carrol B, Navy Res., Mate 3C
Shafer, Lavon h, Marine Res., PFC
Spurlock, Jake, Navy, Cook 2C
Vaughn, Douglas E

Supplemental local list from 1946

Andrews, J.C.
Armstrong, S.E.
Andrews, Byron G
Angell, Benjamin E
Barker, John C
Bennett, Donald K
Bost, Jim
Brown, Harold L
Busey, Jay J
Caldwell, Sammy L, Marines
Caufield, Wallace B Jr.
Carter, Raymond S
Chambliss, Monroe
Childress, Homer D
Cross, Clarence
Cunningham, Streit W
Daniel, Grover C Jr.
Dixon, R.L.
Dudley, B.T.G.
Eaton, Thomas
Ellison, Coby B
Falkner, William C
Farrington, Billy J
Fay, Maurice J
Galloway, Marion L
Garcia, Pedro V
Gholston, J.A.
Graves, Billy J
Gray, Amos
Green, R.E. Jr.
Grover, Theodore
Gunnels, Ralph E
Harwell, H.L.
Hathcock, Richard C
Henry, Carroll G, LT,
Henderson, Thomas R Jr.
Hinde, Hubbard K
Holik, Horace
Holloway, Edgar
Howard, Ryland
Hubbert, Milton
Huntoon, Billy
Jackson, Olin
Jacobs, John B
Jones, Tom
Knoll, Ernest
Kozelshy, Henry
Lanford, Herbert R
Leaton, Baldenar G
Long, Leo C
Luna, Juan
Luquette, Charles
McCullough, Samuel
McKinney, Tom Y
McMillan, George
Maass, Adolph
Martin, James A
Matteson, Albert L
Matthews, Seth M
Mattson, Herbert
Minton, G.W.
Montgomery, Murl
Moran, Pete T
Murray, Wilton
Nanes, Joe, Jr.
Neal, Henry
Neibuhr, Waldo
Nisbet, John A
Page, Alton
Pearl, Bill
Pentecost, James F
Perry, Asa T
Poole, George T
Powell, Edgell S
Powell, Thaddaeus V
Red, Vernon L
Robinson, Joseph C
Robinson, L.L.
Rodriguez, Alberto G
Rodway, Fred S
Ruckman, Harold W
Ruiz, Manuel V
Samaniego, Augustine M
Sanders, Bill R
Schelhas, William L
Smith, Herbert
Thomas, Max
Thompson, Frank
Tusha , John E
Vance, Leon R
Veal, John M
Vickers, Samuel H
Voss, John N
Wagnon, Charles B
Wagnon, P.O.
Warren, George C
Washburn, Charles E
West, Benjamin H
Weyerts, John
White, Hugh S
Whitfield, Rector
Wolcott, William C

KOREA

Beverly Arthur Q, Army PFC
Bishop Arthur Lee, Army, PFC
Dixon James E, Army, PVT
Hadley George Allen, Air Force, MAJ
Hasty Donald Glynn, Marines, PFC
Hernandez Alberto, Army CPL
Johnson, Johnny M, Air Force, MSGT
Needham Al G, Army, PFC
Patton James Rudy, Marine CPL
Perez Tranquilino G, Army, CPL
Reed Ples JR, Army, SGT
Searcy, Dalton J, Army, PFC
Singleton Marion L, Army, PVT
Watkins, Roy R Jr., Army 1LT

VIETNAM

Bartley, John P
Brown, James D, SP4
Burks, Leroy Jr., PFC
Chapa, Lorenzo Jr., SGT
Collins, Harris L, CPL
Crim, Charles R, SSG
Doyle, Rex W, SP4
Evans, Loyd Jr., SP4
Fitts, Charles M, 1LT
Gonsalez, Mario, CPL
Griffis, William III, CAPT
Harris, Leslie Jr.
Hartman, Henry W, SP5
Henson, George R, SSG
Jones, Louis F, COL
Overstreet, David D, PO3
Juarez, Oscar R, PFC
Knadler, Robert S, SP4
Leftwich, Raymond
Little, Norman E, CPL
Parker, David A, SSG
Quinn, Michael, SN
Rios, Robert P, PVT
Rodriquez, Pedro J, LCPL
Russell, Kenneth T
Scranton, Allen
Tijerina, Albert, CAPT
Watts, William S
Wheless, Jimmy R, CPL

IRAQ

Ezell, Lawrence D, Army SFC
Poindexter, Jason T, Marine PFC, KIA
Soto, Joshua W, Army SGT, KIA
Torrez, Elias III, Marines, LCpl, KIA

Died in Service

Galindo, Jessie , Navy, T/3 – 1963
Towle, Marvin, Air Force – 1963
DeLeon, Isaac Lee, Army, PVT – 2016

Abbreviations

DD – Died of Dysentery
DNB – Died, Non-Battle
DOI – Died of Injuries
DOW – Died of Wounds
FOD – Finding Of Death (no body)
KIA – Killed In Action
M/MIA – Missing
POW – Prisoner of War

This list has been compiled using the following resources:

Gen Forum
U.S. National Archives
Korean Casualties
The Virtual Wall
Iraq War casualties
Defense Casualty Analysis System
The Supplemental Local List published in 1946 is in care of the West Texas Collection at Angelo State University.