fallen heroes – Tuscarawas County Stories

Fallen Heroes: PFC Carl E. Anderson

Troops of the 81st Infantry Division during the Battle of Angaur, 1942.

Carl Eugene Anderson’s short life traced a path from Depression-era Tuscarawas County to a distant Pacific battlefield. Carl Eugene Anderson (1922-1942) was born in Tuscarawas County, Ohio, the son of George William Anderson (1884-1967), a coal miner, and Mabel Marie Collar Anderson (1889–1974). He entered the world as the Anderson family was growing and firmlyContinue reading “Fallen Heroes: PFC Carl E. Anderson”

Fallen Heroes: Specialist 6 James T. Conway

Helicopter of the 15th Medical Battalion of the 1st Cavalry Division in Vietnam, c. 1970. (Source: 15thmedbnassociation.org)

James Thaddeus Conway grew up in Tuscarawas County before service to country carried him to Vietnam and the ultimate sacrifice. James Thaddeus Conway (1946-1970) was born in Dennison, Ohio. He was the son of Thaddeus Conway (1909-1989), a World War II veteran, and Leithana Mary Hammond (1908-2000). In the early 1930s, Thaddeus Conway’s family movedContinue reading “Fallen Heroes: Specialist 6 James T. Conway”

Fallen Heroes: Flight Sergeant Paul F. Brawley

Vickers Wellingtons of 9 Squadron flying in formation. RAF photographer - This photograph CH 5 comes from the collections of the Imperial War Museums.

Born in Newcomerstown, Ohio, Paul Franklin Brawley rose from orphaned youth to wartime aviator. Paul Franklin Brawley (1914-1942) was born in Newcomerstown, Ohio, the only child of Edward Brawley (1860-1922) and Lydia Miller (1876-1928). His parents married, three years before Paul’s birth, in Stark County, Ohio. It was Edward’s second marriage after the death ofContinue reading “Fallen Heroes: Flight Sergeant Paul F. Brawley”

Fallen Heroes: Seaman 2nd Class Robert L. Hammersley

AI generated image of the USS Leary being struck by a German torpedo in the North Atlantic, 2024. (Source: Google ImageFX"

The story of this fallen hero traces a young Ohioan’s journey from his small-town roots to his ultimate sacrifice at sea during World War II. The Hammersley family’s roots were firmly planted in Ohio by the time Thomas E. Hammersley (1896–1957) was born in Coshocton County. The family moved to Wheeling Township, Guernsey County whereContinue reading “Fallen Heroes: Seaman 2nd Class Robert L. Hammersley”

Fallen Heroes: Staff Sergeant Joseph A. Pancheri

Altered image of American soldiers standing on the deck of a troop transport ship during World War Two.

Joseph Pancheri’s life, marked by dedication to his family and country, ended tragically during one of World War II’s most devastating and long-concealed maritime disasters. Severino Pancheri (1893–1957) immigrated from an Italian speaking territory in Austria in 1913, arriving in New York harbor on March 23 that year aboard the SS Niagara. Severino initially settledContinue reading “Fallen Heroes: Staff Sergeant Joseph A. Pancheri”

A Fort Laurens Soldier’s Life and Death

Fort Laurens as it looked in the 1920s. (Source: ohiomemory.org)

Many of us are familiar with the many struggles faced by the short-lived garrison at Fort Laurens. Rather than focus on that, I thought I would look at the life, and death, of one soldier in particular. He was a Virginian and his name was Private George Osborne. This branch of the Osborne family hasContinue reading “A Fort Laurens Soldier’s Life and Death”

Fallen Heroes: Private Francis Blickensderfer

Maj. Gen. Sherman and staff This view was taken in the trenches before Atlanta, Ga. Stereograph shows Sherman standing with officers next to cannon before siege of Atlanta in 1864. (Source: loc.gov)

This fallen hero was the descendant of an American Revolutionary War patriot and early settler of Tuscarawas County. He would make his sacrifice in a war to preserve the nation his ancestor helped create. The Blickensderfer family arrived in Tuscarawas County, Ohio with the arrival of Christian Blickenderfer, Jr. (1753-1820) and his family who purchasedContinue reading “Fallen Heroes: Private Francis Blickensderfer”

Fallen Heroes: Private Walter A. Smith

German guns captured by the 4th Infantry Division, September 1918. (Source: archive.org)

The Smith family had travelled thousands of miles to raise a family far from the wars and poverty of eastern Europe, only to have one of their sons give the ultimate sacrifice on a far-off battlefield in France. After John Smith (1869-1953) and his fiancé Mary (1869-1925) married in 1886 in Poland, they wasted noContinue reading “Fallen Heroes: Private Walter A. Smith”

Fallen Heroes: Specialist 4 Donald Eugene Allan, Jr.

Sheridan Tanks from H Troop, 17th Cavalry, 198th Infantry Brigade of the Americal Division, cross the Song Diem River during Operation Nantucket Beach, about 10 miles northeast of Quang Ngai, Vietnam.

Typically when I look at the short life of a fallen hero, I trace his roots in the community along his paternal line. In the case of this Vietnam War fallen hero from Midvale, I chose to follow his mother’s family instead. The Chaney family arrived in Ohio in the early 1800s with the migrationContinue reading “Fallen Heroes: Specialist 4 Donald Eugene Allan, Jr.”

Fallen Heroes: Private First Class John W. Rector

C-119s drop the 187th RCT over Korea, 1952. (Source: wikipedia.com)

It was the nature of the conflict in Korea that the front lines shifted dramatically, often making it difficult to recover the the bodies of fallen heroes. This Newcomerstown fallen hero, and paratrooper, did not return home for almost five years following his death. The Rector family appeared in Ohio with the arrival of WashingtonContinue reading “Fallen Heroes: Private First Class John W. Rector”