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Obituaries

Arleigh William ''Bill'' Dean with his wife, Ruth, and two daughters. Dean, a retired Army lieutenant colonel and Green Beret, died of injuries suffered in a rock fall on Mount Rainier in Washington.<br>Courtesy Bill Dean GoFundMe page
Arleigh William ''Bill'' Dean with his wife, Ruth, and two daughters. Dean, a retired Army lieutenant colonel and Green Beret, died of injuries suffered in a rock fall on Mount Rainier in Washington.<br>Courtesy Bill Dean GoFundMe page

Obituary

Quiet professional remembered: Bill Dean had lasting impact on ISIS fight

A memorial Monday at an Alaska National Guard armory will celebrate a Special Forces veteran whose role in the fight against the Islamic State group in Syria was relatively unknown before he died in a climbing accident last month.

Denver Broncos owner Pat Bowlen looks on prior to the start of an NFL football game between the St. Louis Rams and the Denver Broncos, in Denver on Nov. 28, 2010.<br>Joe Mahone/AP
Denver Broncos owner Pat Bowlen looks on prior to the start of an NFL football game between the St. Louis Rams and the Denver Broncos, in Denver on Nov. 28, 2010.<br>Joe Mahone/AP

Obituary

Broncos owner Pat Bowlen dies at 75 before Hall enshrinement

Denver Broncos owner Pat Bowlen, who transformed the team from also-rans into NFL champions and helped the league usher in billion-dollar television deals, died late Thursday, just under two months before his enshrinement in the Pro Football Hall of Fame. He was 75.

World War II veteran Richard Cole, of Doolittle's Raiders fame, attends the 2014 Memorial Day parade in Washington, D.C. Cole, the last of the 80 Doolittle Tokyo Raiders, died Tuesday, April 9, 2018. He was 103.<br>Stars and Stripes
World War II veteran Richard Cole, of Doolittle's Raiders fame, attends the 2014 Memorial Day parade in Washington, D.C. Cole, the last of the 80 Doolittle Tokyo Raiders, died Tuesday, April 9, 2018. He was 103.<br>Stars and Stripes

Obituary

Last living Doolittle Raider dies in Texas at 103

Retired Lt. Col. Richard “Dick” Cole was one of 80 members of the first U.S. strike against Japanese mainland targets in World War II, credited for bringing optimism of winning the war to the American people.

John Gunther Dean, the last U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia before it fell to the Khmer Rouge in 1975, is seen in Paris on March 19, 2015. Dean's family says he died June 6, 2019. <br>Jacques Brinon/AP
John Gunther Dean, the last U.S. Ambassador to Cambodia before it fell to the Khmer Rouge in 1975, is seen in Paris on March 19, 2015. Dean's family says he died June 6, 2019. <br>Jacques Brinon/AP

Obituary

John Gunther Dean, US diplomat haunted by Cambodia, dies

John Gunther Dean, a veteran American diplomat and five-time ambassador forever haunted by his role in the evacuation of the U.S. Embassy in Cambodia during the dying days of the Khmer Republic, has died. He was 93.

Comedians Harvey Korman, left, and Tim Conway display three Emmy Awards for the "Carol Burnett Show" at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, Calif., on Sept. 18, 1978. Conway, the stellar second banana to Carol Burnett who won four Emmy Awards on her TV variety show, has died, according to his publicist. He was 85. Conway died Tuesday morning, May 14, 2019, after a long illness in Los Angeles, according to Howard Bragman, who heads LaBrea Media.<br>David Yarnold/AP
Comedians Harvey Korman, left, and Tim Conway display three Emmy Awards for the "Carol Burnett Show" at the Pasadena Civic Auditorium in Pasadena, Calif., on Sept. 18, 1978. Conway, the stellar second banana to Carol Burnett who won four Emmy Awards on her TV variety show, has died, according to his publicist. He was 85. Conway died Tuesday morning, May 14, 2019, after a long illness in Los Angeles, according to Howard Bragman, who heads LaBrea Media.<br>David Yarnold/AP

Tim Conway, uninhibited crack-up artist on ‘The Carol Burnett Show,’ dies at 85

Army veteran Tim Conway, the impish second banana to Carol Burnett who won four Emmy Awards on her TV variety show, starred aboard “McHale’s Navy” and later voiced the role of Barnacle Boy for “Spongebob Squarepants,” died in Los Angeles after a long illness.

Retired Major Gen. Eldon Bargewell<br>U.S. Army
Retired Major Gen. Eldon Bargewell<br>U.S. Army

Former Delta Force commander dies in lawnmower accident at Alabama home

Retired Major Gen. Eldon Bargewell, 72, former commander of the elite Delta Force, died Monday after his lawnmower rolled over an embankment behind his house in Eufaula, Ala.

U.S. Marine veteran R. V. Burgin, 93, salutes during the 76th Annual Memorial Day Service at Restland Memorial Park in Dallas on May 30, 2016. Burgin, whose book about grueling jungle combat during World War II became a basis for the HBO miniseries "The Pacific," died April 6, 2019, at his home in Texas. He was 96. <br>David Woo, The Dallas Morning News/AP
U.S. Marine veteran R. V. Burgin, 93, salutes during the 76th Annual Memorial Day Service at Restland Memorial Park in Dallas on May 30, 2016. Burgin, whose book about grueling jungle combat during World War II became a basis for the HBO miniseries "The Pacific," died April 6, 2019, at his home in Texas. He was 96. <br>David Woo, The Dallas Morning News/AP

R.V. Burgin, author and Marine portrayed in HBO’s ‘The Pacific,’ dies at 96

Texas native R.V. Burgin's unflinching account of several battles he survived during the war helped inspire “The Pacific,” a miniseries produced by HBO in 2010.

Col. Mark Smith, whose prolific letters about his Marines were widely circulated during his command of the Marine Reserves 2nd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment in Iraq, was buried Wednesday, April 3, 2019, in Indianapolis, Ind. He was 54.<br>U.S. Marine Corps
Col. Mark Smith, whose prolific letters about his Marines were widely circulated during his command of the Marine Reserves 2nd Battalion, 24th Marine Regiment in Iraq, was buried Wednesday, April 3, 2019, in Indianapolis, Ind. He was 54.<br>U.S. Marine Corps

Marine colonel known for heartfelt Iraq War letters laid to rest

Retired Col. Mark A. Smith, who wrote dozens of letters praised for their compassion and eloquence to the families of his Marine Reserve battalion during a deployment early in the Iraq War, was remembered this week as a “Marine’s Marine.”

Kathleen Isabel Rose Bourque, left, and Marine 1st Lt. Conor Mcdowell.<br>Facebook
Kathleen Isabel Rose Bourque, left, and Marine 1st Lt. Conor Mcdowell.<br>Facebook

Young love lost, an only son gone, after fatal training accident at Camp Pendleton

When Marine Corps 1st Lt. Conor McDowell died earlier this month in a training exercise at Camp Pendleton, he left behind family full of memories of the young man that had wanted to be a Marine since childhood.

Clockwise from top: World War II veteran Mario Sorrentino listens to 1930s and '40s music while Kenley Chambers visits him. Sorrentino, who died May 25, 2019, would often talk about the war years while and after listening to the music from that era. Sorrentino shows off his WWII Army uniform. Photo of Mario Sorrentino when he was serving in the Army as an engineer.<br>Peter Ackerman/Asbury Park Press
Clockwise from top: World War II veteran Mario Sorrentino listens to 1930s and '40s music while Kenley Chambers visits him. Sorrentino, who died May 25, 2019, would often talk about the war years while and after listening to the music from that era. Sorrentino shows off his WWII Army uniform. Photo of Mario Sorrentino when he was serving in the Army as an engineer.<br>Peter Ackerman/Asbury Park Press

Video

D-Day vet bonded with 9-year-old through the magic of music

As the big-band classic "All Or Nothing At All" piped into Sorrentino's headphones, he was no longer a 96-year-old battling dementia. He was 20, an Army combat engineer heading across the English Channel to invade France in June 1944.

Youa True Joseph Vang, also known as Lt. Col. Ntaug Nrw, of St. Paul, in military uniform in 1972.<br>Vang family
Youa True Joseph Vang, also known as Lt. Col. Ntaug Nrw, of St. Paul, in military uniform in 1972.<br>Vang family

Obituary

One of the last surviving Hmong war heroes has died

Youa True Joseph Vang, one of the last surviving Hmong heroes from the Vietnam War era and a prominent St. Paul leader, pastor and businessman, died Wednesday. He was 83.

World War II veteran William Laughlin Connell died April 25, 2019. He was 95.<br>Star Tribune
World War II veteran William Laughlin Connell died April 25, 2019. He was 95.<br>Star Tribune

Obituary

World War II veteran, POW William Connell dies at 95

William "Bill" Connell's first bombing mission in 1944 would also be his last. Shot down over an island in the Pacific Ocean, he would endure over a year in Japanese prison camps.

Henry Bloch in 1945<br>HRB Tax Group, Inc.
Henry Bloch in 1945<br>HRB Tax Group, Inc.

Henry Bloch, whose H&R Block became world’s largest tax-services provider, dies at 96

World War II vet Henry Bloch spent 20 years as the public face of his company, H&R Block, in TV commercials — they proved so effective that other businesses hired him to star in their commercials.

Howard V. Lee died at the age of 85.<br>Congressional Medal of Honor Society
Howard V. Lee died at the age of 85.<br>Congressional Medal of Honor Society

Howard Lee, Medal of Honor recipient who led long-odds defense, dies at 85

He volunteered to rescue a beleaguered platoon that had embarked on a reconnaissance mission and helped the Marines stave off North Vietnamese forces for six hours.

Judge Robert L. Miller Sr.<br>U.S. Navy
Judge Robert L. Miller Sr.<br>U.S. Navy

Miller's Vets bid farewell to a judge who helped homeless veterans and the elderly

Among Judge Robert L. Miller Sr.'s contributions were founding Miller’s Vets, a program to help homeless veterans return to self-sufficiency, and establishing The Last Salute, a program in which Miller’s Vets perform a full military graveside service for veterans.