Fallen Heroes: Specialist 6 James T. Conway
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 moved…
Fallen Heroes: Flight Sergeant Paul F. Brawley
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 of…
Fallen Heroes: Seaman 2nd Class Robert L. Hammersley
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 where…
Fallen Heroes: Staff Sergeant Joseph A. Pancheri
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 settled…
A Fort Laurens Soldier’s Life and Death
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 has…
Fallen Heroes: Private Francis Blickensderfer
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 purchased…
Fallen Heroes: Private Walter A. Smith
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 no…
Fallen Heroes: Specialist 4 Donald Eugene Allan, Jr.
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 migration…
Fallen Heroes: Private First Class John W. Rector
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 Washington…
Fallen Heroes: Private Thomas J. Forbes
This family had two older sons, both of whom volunteered to serve in the United States military during World War Two. Each would be sent to the Philippines to combat the Japanese, and each would die while a prisoner-of-war. This is one of those sons’ stories. Determining when this branch of the Forbes family tree…
Fallen Heroes: Corporal William Hickman
I discovered when researching the Hickman House in Bolivar that one of the family members had served, and sacrificed, during the Civil War. Needless to say, I wanted to learn more about this fallen hero’s story. The Hickman family arrived in Ohio in 1844 when Daniel Hickman (1804-1886) and his family settled on land in…
Fallen Heroes: Bugler Victor J. Mattevi
This fallen hero’s parents immigrated from Europe in order to provide a better life for their future children in America. Unfortunately, one of their sons would return to a Europe at war and make the ultimate sacrifice. Celeste Mattevi (1868-1940) was born in the southern part of the province of Tyrol in what was then…
Fallen Heroes: Private Oscar F. Nicewander
This fallen hero from the hamlet of Dundee had barely been in service three months when he made the ultimate sacrifice in the Mekong Delta of Vietnam. The Nicewander family came to Ohio from Pennsylvania in the first half of the 19th century with the arrival of Peter Nicewander (1809-1882). The family originally settled in…
Fallen Heroes: Private John T. Miller
This fallen soldier, who’s job was to provide comfort and aid to his fellow soldiers, was the first from his conflict to be returned home to his loved ones for burial. He was, of course, not the last. Nicholas Miller (1814-1900) and his wife Catherine (1809-1892) immigrated with their seven children, aged from newborn to…
Fallen Heroes: Seaman 1st Class Jack K. Kellogg
This fallen hero’s family had only resided in Tuscarawas County a short time when the Second World War began and their only son enlisted in the United States Navy. That son, like many sailors before him, met his fate on the seas and his ship serves as his tomb. The Kellogg family arrived in New…
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© Noel B. Poirier, 2023.
Tuscarawas County Stories 