People who die from natural causes or in cases such as accidents, wars or drug abuse are there every day. Therefore, it is important to deal with this issue to understand that life will not always be easy. In this category we will explain in a few words the most important facts about deceased persons, resting places such as the Arlington National Cemetery and who has what right to what resting place.
A deceased person is a human being from the moment of his death until the expiration of his post-mortem personality protection. The memory of the deceased is protected from disparagement under criminal law. After the burial or finding of a lifeless missing person, one (also) speaks of a dead person. The term deceased must be distinguished from the term corpse, which refers only to the body.
When people are dying due to the natural aging process or a serious illness, they go through the incipient dying process. In contrast to the sudden death caused, for example, by a fatal accident in a war to a military service member or veteran, the natural dying process extends over a longer period of time. This is divided into the phases of dying, in which certain signs of impending death can often be identified.
Primarily buried at Arlington National Cemetery are deceased persons who died in a military action, or their family members. However, presidents such as Kennedy family William Howard Taft, Senator Robert F. Kennedy, Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, world boxing champion Joe Louis, the seven Space Shuttle Challenger astronauts and the Tuskegee Airmen are also buried.
NEWS RELEASE from the United States Department of Defense No. 1253-04 IMMEDIATE RELEASE DoD Identifies Army Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a soldier who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. Specialist David P. Mahlenbrock, 20, of Maple Shade, New Jersey, died December 3, 2004 in Kirkuk, Iraq, when he was clearing … Read more
From a contemporary press report: Herman Parker, 72, a retired Army Sergeant Major who served two tours of duty in the Vietnam War, died of cancer April 22, 2004, at the Halquist Memorial Inpatient Center in Arlington, Virginia. He lived in Washington. Sergeant Major Parker was a native of Latham, Alabama, who served 30 … Read more
From a contemporary press report: Peter A. Petito, 84, a retired Army colonel and intelligence analyst, died of prostate cancer November 17, 1998 at the Hospice of Howard County, Maryland. Colonel Petito, who fought in the jungles of Burma during World War II, served in the Army Counterintelligence Corps for much of his career. He … Read more
From a contemporary press report: On Saturday, Aug. 26, 2000, retired United States Navy Commander Charles J. Zadd of Vienna, Virginia, died in his sleep after a one-year battle with cancer. He was born October 25, 1930 in New York City. He graduated from the United States Naval Academy, Class of 1955, and also received … Read more
NEWS RELEASE from the United States Department of Defense No. 368-03 (703)697-5131(media) IMMEDIATE RELEASE May 26, 2003 DOD IDENTIFIES ARMY CASUALTY The Department of Defense announced today that Private David Evans, Jr., 18, of Buffalo, New York, was killed May 25, 2003, in Ad Diwaniyah, Iraq. Evans was killed in an explosion at a facility … Read more
Leslie C. Smith II, 45, an Army Major and lawyer whose final active-duty assignment, in 2004, was chief of claims in the Office of the Staff Judge Advocate at Fort Myer, died April 2,2007, at Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He had acute myelocytic leukemia. Major Smith, a Silver Spring resident, joined the Army in … Read more
From a contemporary press report Robert Patrick Tracy, 66, a retired Air Force lieutenant colonel who later became a civilian systems analyst, died of cancer February 15, 1999 at the Veterans Hospital at Fort Howard, Maryland. Colonel Tracy was born in Pittston, Pennsylvania, and graduated from Pennsylvania State University. He retired from the Air Force … Read more
Harold M. Clark, Born in 1890 and died on May 2, 1919. He was the first United States airman to fly in Hawaii. Clark Air Force Base in the Philippines was named for him. He died on May 2, 1919 in a seaplane crash in the Miraflores Locks, Panama Canal Zone and was buried with … Read more
For United States Army Personnel From “A” To “L” Click Here For United States Army Personnel From “M” To “Z” Click Here For Army Medal of Honor Recipients, Click Here To Return To The Main Biographical Pages, Click Here Michael Robert Patterson Michael Robert Patterson was born in Arlington and is the son of a … Read more
Courtesy of the 82nd Airborne Association: Lieutenant Colonel Robert Gallardo of Barefoot Bay was born October 29, 1921, in Tampa, Florida to Christopher and Maria Gallardo. He was the 12th child of a family of 13. There were three girls and 10 boys. At 11 the family moved to New York City. When the war … Read more
Born in San Rafael, California, March 6, 1896, the son of Augustus Francis Fechteler, he graduated from the United States Naval Academy in 1916. He served on the battleship USS Pennsyvlania during World War I and progressed through the regular alterntion of sea and shore duties, advancing to Captain and the post of Operations Office of … Read more
First Lieutenant John Tazewell Helms, U.S.Army Born in Missouri January 21, 1909 Died in an accident December 30, 1935 Cadet U.S. Military Academy 1927-31 Graduated as No. 9314, Class of 1931 Second Lieutenant September 11, 1931 First Lieutenant August 1, 1935 Detailed to Air Corps, September 11, 1931 Student, Air Corps Primary Flying School, 1931-32 … Read more
December 6, 1912 – Captain J. W. Meese, the first business manager of the St. Paul Pioneer Press, and widely known in publishing circles, died yesterday morning at the residence of his son, Horace S. Meese, 515 West 184th Street, New York City, after an illness of two years, in his seventy-second year. For fifteen … Read more
NEWS RELEASE from the United States Department of Defense No. 892-04 IMMEDIATE RELEASE Sep 13, 2004 Dod Identifies Marine Casualty The Department of Defense announced today the death of a Marine who was supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom. First Lieutenant Alexander E. Wetherbee, 27, of Fairfax, Virginia, died September 12, 2004, from injuries received from enemy … Read more
3 ARMY OFFICERS DIE IN PLANE CRASH Lieutenant J. A. Willis, Jr., Pilot; His Father, Major Willis, And Major J. A. Parker Killed HIT FOG OVER VIRGINIA March 20, 1933 WASHINGTON, March 19, 1933 – Lieutenant James A. Willis, Jr., and his two passengers, Major James A. Willis, Sr., his father, and Major John A. Parker, were killed … Read more
MAJOR GENERAL CHESTER E. MCCARTY Retired March 1, 1966, Died April 5, 1999 Major General Chester E. McCarty of Portland, Oregon, assumed duties as chief of staff for U.S. Air Forces in Europe in February 1963. He came to Germany from Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C., where he served an assistant chief of staff … Read more
EGE, ARTHUR E AVN CADET AAF USA DATE OF DEATH: 05/08/1944 BURIED AT: SECTION 34 SITE 4087-89 NAUMOFF, WALTER S/SGT AAF USA DATE OF DEATH: 05/08/1944 BURIED AT: SECTION 34 SITE 4087-89 HORGAN, DANIEL A 2ND LT AAF USA DATE OF DEATH: 05/08/1944 BURIED AT: SECTION 34 SITE 4087-89 WATSON, JOHN A SSGT AAF USA … Read more
Born in Washington, D.C. October 20, 1903, he served with the United States Navy as a Lieutenant and Lieutenant Commander, August 1942-January 1946. He was a liaison between the French and U.S. Fleets during World War II. He was decorated with the rank of Chevalier in the French Legion of Honor and with the Croix … Read more
By Jerry Vondas COURTESY OF THE PITTSBURGH TRIBUNE-REVIEW Sunday, November 4, 2007 As a retired military intelligence Air Force officer who spent 26 years on active duty, Major Sophia Dziadura, a former resident of Carnegie, Pennsylvania, was also recognized for her efforts in developing the Deinheim Orphanage in Germany in the years following World War … Read more
Born in Dresden, Saxony (Germany) where his parents were visiting, on November 23, 1865. He was the son of General George Brinton and Ellen M. (Marcy) McClellan. Received his A.B. degree from Princeton in 1886, his A.M. degree and L.L.B. degree from Fordham in 1905 and Union Univesity in 1906. He married Georgiana L. Heckscher, … Read more
Brigadier General Creswell Garlington, U.S. Army Born in Rock Island, Illinois June 23, 1887 Died, Hunters Field, Georgia March 11, 1945 Cadet, U.S. Military Academy 1906-10 Graduated as No. 4854, Class of 1910 Second Lieutenant June 15, 1910 First Lieutenant February 27, 1913 Captain July 1, 1916 Major (NA) August 5, 1917 Lieutenant Colonel (NA) … Read more
Charles Russell Miller Jr., 74, died July 26, 1999, at his home in Norfolk, Virginia. A native of Alexandria, Virginia, he graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy, Class of 1946, and spent his Naval career in the submarine service. He taught Naval ROTC at UCLA and later went on to earn an M.B.A. and Ph.D. … Read more
Retired U.S. Army Colonel Donald B. Millar, a former resident of Redlands, California, and recipient of the Roy Coble Award, died February 12, 2007, in Colorado Springs, following an illness. He was 89. He had lived in Redlands from 1976 until 2005, when he and his wife moved to Colorado Springs to be with their … Read more
Born at Providence, Rhode Island, April 22, 1828. Educated in the grammar schools, Providence, Rhode Island. Married: Alice Beverly Potter. Married a second time: Emily Kemble (Oliver) Brown, May 13, 1874. The father of George A. Andrews. He was in business life beginning in June 1841 at Providence, and afterward in New York and St Louis, … Read more
Courtesy of the United States Air Force MAJOR GENERAL ST. CLAIR STREETT Retired February 1952, Died October 1, 1970 St. Clair Streett was born in Washington, D.C., in 1893. After graduating from high school, he enlisted as a sergeant in the Signal Corps, Enlisted Reserve, on December 8, 1916 and was assigned to the Curtis … Read more
DEATH OF LIEUTENANT BENHAM WASHINGTON, April 8, 1904 – The Navy Department has been advised by the Commandant of the United States Naval Station, Key West, Florida, of the death there today of Lieutenant Henry Kennedy Benham. The deceased was a son of Rear Admiral Benham, retired, and was born in and appointed from New York. … Read more
Clayton Sinnot Adams (1890-1965). Born in Champaign, Illinois on December 7, 1890. Commissioned in the infantry reserve following attendance at Training Camp, Fort Sheridan in 1917. Called to active duty September 1940. Served in the office of the Adjutant General 1940-1942. Brigadier General in September 1942. Head of Army postal Service 1942-1943. Duty with Army … Read more
February 5, 2002 Captain Brian D. Rizzoli and First Lieutenant William B. Satterly, of the 47th Airlift Wing, died when their C-21 crashed near Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota. The C-21 is the military version of the Learjet 35A. University of Dayton: It is with profound sadness that we report that Captain Brian D. … Read more