Search for Ohio County's lost veterans still not over
by Jim Carney
The Associated Press
Dayton Daily News

AKRON, Ohio — It was two years ago that Judy Anne Davis was walking along grave markers at Hillside Memorial Park, looking for the graves of veterans, when she stumbled across a familiar name.

The marker for Staff Sgt. Marcus Randy Byous was partially covered by grass and leaves.

Davis, 68, of Stow, remembered having Byous in her English class at Akron's Central High School in the 1960s.

Byous, 21, was a crew chief on an Army attack helicopter and was killed in Vietnam on May 10, 1969, along with three other crewmen.

...In the case of Byous, his gravestone noted that he had been killed in Vietnam, yet his name was not on the list (of deceased Summit County Veterans).

His brother, Glenn Byous, 64, of Mogadore, said he is glad his brother's name was picked up by Davis.

The loss of his brother changed his life, Byous said.

"It is still even hard to talk about it," said Byous, a retired carpenter.

More than four decades later, he still has dreams about his brother and still says "it is hard to believe" that he is gone.

Byous said his brother volunteered for service and was scheduled to return to the United States in just 16 days when he was killed.

He remembers the trip with his mother, Mary Katherine Byous, to Akron-Canton Airport in the spring of 1968. He said he had a feeling he would never see his brother again.

"I cried my eyes out," Byous said.

He said his brother had been ordered to stay back in a tent and man the radios when he heard a cry for help. He rallied another helicopter crew and set out on a rescue mission.

"Both helicopters were shot down," Byous said.

His older brother, David Byous, lives in Cuyahoga Falls. Both of his parents, Mary Katherine and Luther Pete Byous, are deceased.

Glenn Byous said he wants people to remember the sacrifice his brother made for his country.

Judy Anne Davis said that unfortunately, it can be difficult to get records of deceased veterans, like Byous, who died overseas.

But when she saw his grave, she immediately remembered her student.

"He was a neat kid," she said.

Touching his grave marker "really hit me," she said.

Davis, who has searched area cemeteries for Revolutionary War graves, said the fact that Byous' name was not listed shows the need to keep an accurate record of all veterans.