by Richard D. L. Fulton Staff Sgt. Richard J. Tieman Richard J. Tieman was born on November 21, 1981, at the Letterman Army Hospital in San Francisco, and subsequently resided in Waynesboro, the residence of his father, Richard Tieman, Jr., and his stepmother, Diane Tieman.  Tieman also had one brother, Tyler. Tyler Tieman described his…

by Richard D. L. Fulton Erik W. Hayes KIA in IraqErik W. Hayes was born on November 14, 1980, at the Gettysburg Hospital, to parents Douglas and Deborah Hayes (subsequently known as Deborah Reckley). Hayes had a younger brother, Bradley, who was born in 1984. Hayes grew up in Harney and graduated from the Living…

by Richard D. L. Fulton Captain John Ryan Dennison Army Captain (John) Ryan Dennison exemplified the West Point motto of Duty, Honor, and Country throughout his life. ~ John Ryan Dennison Scholarship Fund (The Community Foundation of Fred erick County) Captain Lieutenant John Dennison was born on February 22, 1982, at the Landstuhl Army Medical…

Clarence Deardorff Cullison, Jr. Liberation of Luxembourg Gettysburg resident Clarence Deardorff Cullison, Jr. was born on September 20, 1918, in Franklin Township, Adams County, to parents Clarence Cullison, Sr. and Lena Cullison. He had five brothers: Harvey, Oscar, Russel, Norman, and Chester Cullison; and five sisters: Margaret Cullison, Letha Myers, Mildred Plank, Kathryn Kepner, and…

Edwin C. Creeger, Jr. Namesake of Legion Post 168 by Richard D. L. Fulton Edwin C. Creeger, Jr. was born on August 21, 1920, in Thurmont to parents Edwin C. and Ethel Creeger.  He was his parents’ only child.  The family’s address was given as having been 7 North Church Street, Thurmont. Creeger’s father owned…

Larry Thomas Brent Died in Vietnam by Richard D. L. Fulton Larry Thomas Brent was born on May 10, 1946, in Franklin Township, Adams County, Pennsylvania, to parents Logan Brent and Susan Moore Brent. Brent had seven brothers and five sisters “surviving” him at the time of his death, according to an obituary published in…

Frank W. Albaugh KIA Lorraine Campaign Frank W. Albaugh was born on December 26, 1923, in Thurmont, to Maurice, World War I Veteran, and wife, Margaret Albaugh. He and his parents’ address was given in the 1940 Census as simply being “Main Street,” Thurmont; also seen elsewhere as having been “31 West Main Street.”  Albaugh’s…

Sergeant David J. Smith KIA Afghanistan David J. Smith was born on February 16, 1984, in Washington, D.C., to parents Mary Jane McWilliams and Leonard Alan Smith. The Sergeant David J. Smith Memorial Fund website noted that he had been raised by stepparents, John Jones and Olga Smith, and was the “the middle child to…

Medic John W. Bennett Survived Being KIA by Richard D. L. Fulton John W. Bennett was born (“at home”) on March 13, 1948, in Takoma Park, a Montgomery County suburb of Washington, D.C., to parents J.W. and Elmira Bennett. He graduated from Westminster High School.  Bennett subsequently met his wife Shirley (“on a blind date”).…

Specialist-4 Richard Sanders “Chopper Down” Rescue Service in Vietnam by Richard D. L. Fulton Helicopters played a major role in the Vietnam War, notably in support of ground operations and in airlifting combat casualties, but this placed many of them at the risk of taking enemy fire themselves. Richard Sanders, Sabillasville, was born in 1947…

Ira H. Buhrman “Lost at Sea” by Richard D. L. Fulton Ira Harrison Buhrman was born on November 10, 1887, in Foxville (Frederick County), to parents Harvey Meade Buhrman, a farmer, and Theresa Need Buhrman. Buhrman had eight brothers and sisters (two apparently having died at birth). Buhrman resided in Foxville until his death and…

Sergeant George Frailey Combs Navigating Bombers Over Europe by Richard D. L. Fulton George F. Combs was born January 11, 1922, to parents Cooley and Clara Rowe Combs. He grew up in Emmitsburg and had two brothers, Samuel and Thomas. Combs’ military registration card, filled in when he was 20, described him as being 5’7”…

PFC Richard Lee Fulton From Occupying Japan to War in Korea by Richard D. L. Fulton Former Brunswick area resident Richard Lee Fulton was born in Labell, Missouri, on May 30, 1930, to parents, Kansas-born Oscar Lee and Missouri-born Tina Fern Fulton.  He had one brother (also named Richard) and five sisters: Juanita, Carmeta, Donna,…

Colonel Bernard L. Talley, Jr. Former Mount Graduate and POW Bernard L. Talley Jr. was born on February 23, 1939, in Baltimore to parents Emma Louise Sheely and Bernard Leo Talley, Sr., and was the youngest of his parents’ three children. Talley was a graduate of Loyola High School, Towson, and was graduated in the…

PFC John Little, Emmitsburg KIA in the Liberation of Bizory by Richard D. L. Fulton John William Little was born on December 19, 1910, to parents John William and Minie Little, and resided on Frederick Street, Emmitsburg, Maryland, and had two sisters, Valerie and Anna, and three brothers, Robert, Roy, and James. James was included…

Private Joseph A. Williams Adams’ Only Black WWI Fatality by Richard D. L. Fulton Joseph Albert Williams was born on November 23, 1892, in Frederick County, Maryland. In Valerie J. Young’s The World War One Gold Star Soldiers from Adams County (Adams County Historical Society, Adams County History, Volume 24 2018), Young stated that Williams…

Corporal Martin Burns Guarding Presidents and Camp David by Richard D. L. Fulton Martin “Marty” Burns, of Thurmont, was born in 1965 to parents Patricia and Jay Burns, resided in Munroe Falls, Ohio, and graduated from Stow–Munroe Falls High School, Stow, Ohio. Burns subsequently enlisted in the Marine Corps in 1985 and was sent to…

Harvey Lee Wetzel From Erecting Bridges to Disarming Bombs by Richard D. L. Fulton Harvey Lee Wetzel was born in 1947 in Waynesboro to parents, Clarence and Elsie Wetzel, and he and his family lived in Thurmont, where Wetzel graduated from Thurmont High School in 1965. Wetzel presently resides in Indian Head, Maryland with his…

Sergeant Jim Adelsberger Emmitsburg’s Last Pearl Harbor Survivor by Richard D. L. Fulton On February 24, 2009, Emmitsburg lost its last Pearl Harbor survivor, James (“Jim”) O. Adelsberger, at age 87, when he passed away at St. Catherine’s Nursing Center. In November 2004, the reporter, who was then the news editor for the The Emmitsburg…

Pvt. Francis Xavier Elder First to Enlist, First to Fall by Richard D. L. Fulton “I am about to enter the fight for democracy…”   ~Francis X. Elder, 1918 In 1917, as the United States entered World War I, the soldiers of the 1st, 4th, and 5th Maryland (state national guard) regiments found themselves on their…