CONWAY — Two new names have been etched on the Faulkner County Veterans Memorial in front of the Faulkner County Courthouse in Conway. Both local servicemen, they were unaccounted for until recently.
Marine Corps Pfc. Larry R. Roberts of Damascus and Staff Sgt. Robert Dale Van Fossen of Greenbrier are now memorialized on the wall, along with other Faulkner County veterans who lost their lives in World War I, World War II, Korea and Vietnam.
Faulkner County Judge Jim Baker made the announcement the afternoon of Sept. 12 in a brief ceremony before a handful of veterans and other interested citizens gathered in front of the memorial, which was dedicated by Faulkner County leaders May 30, 1993, “to the honor and glory” of the county’s war dead … “in remembrance of those who made the ultimate sacrifice that we might be free.”
Baker said Roberts was “just 18” when he was killed in 1943 on a mission in the South Pacific during World War II.
“He was one of approximately 1,000 Marines and sailors killed in the Gilbert Islands,” Baker said. “Many of those servicemen were buried following the battle, but his remains were not among them.”
Information found online on the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency’s website, www.dpaa.mil, states in 1949, “despite multiple grave-recovery operations,” a military review board declared Roberts’ remains “nonrecoverable.”
However, in June 2015, a nongovernmental organization discovered the island burial site and recovered the remains of what they believed were 35 U.S. servicemen who fought in the 1943 battle. Scientists were able to identify Roberts’ remains using DNA analysis.
“He has since been buried at the Arlington National Cemetery,” Baker said. Roberts was buried June 14.
“He grew up in Damascus in Faulkner County and attended Damascus schools,” Baker said. “He is now honored here with other Faulkner County veterans.”
Van Fossen, the second veteran’s name added to the memorial wall Sept. 12, was from Greenbrier, Baker said. “He graduated from Greenbrier High School, but his family later moved to Heber Springs.
“He served during the Korean War and was on his way to Alaska,” Baker said. “His plane hit a mountain and was lost for more than 60 years. The plane was discovered a few years ago when the ice started to melt, and a couple of years ago, his family was notified. He was returned to Heber Springs this past Memorial
Day and was buried alongside members of his family.”
Greenbrier Mayor Sammy Joe Hartwick was among those gathered for the Sept. 12 ceremony at the Faulkner County Courthouse and added more information about Van Fossen.
“As I understand it, [Van Fossen] was going to Alaska to be a translator,” Hartwick said. “He knew Russian.”
According to information found on the Air Force website, af.mil, Van Fossen died Nov. 22, 1952, when a Douglas
C-124A-DL Globemaster II went down en route from McChord Air Force Base in Tacoma, Washington, to
Elmendorf Air Force Base near Anchorage, Alaska, with a crew of 11. Van Fossen was one of 41 passengers aboard the aircraft. Prior to enlisting in the Air Force in 1949, Van Fossen served in the Arkansas Army National Guard from 1947 through 1949.
“He grew up in Faulkner County,” Baker said of Van Fossen. “It is most fitting that we remember him here.”
Since his election as Faulkner County Judge, Baker also led the effort to add another name to the veterans memorial in 2015. The name of Cpl. Edward D. “Buddy” Eaton was added at that time; he was a former Conway resident and served in the Korean War.