John Doe Indiana Army
3rd Armored Division "Spearhead"
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This John Doe was found in South Bend Indiana (close to University of Notre Dame) on June 9, 1985. According to reports he was deceased about a week or so.
He was about 71” tall (5 ft 11 inch) and his weight is estimated to be 160Lbs. He had brown hair and a mustache. We have a nice tight age range of 20-30 years old so his Army service years would be somewhere in the 1973 to 1985 years with a year of birth from 1955 – 1965 (ish). There is no fingerprint, dental, or DNA information available according to his NamUs profile. His clothing description includes a jacket with the following notes: Olive-drab Army field Jacket (M65), with military patches and name patch of "Hosea" and the word "Spearhead" emblazoned on it (a patch of the 3rd Armored Division, U.S. Army). |
The 3rd Armored's primary mission during the May 1956 to July 1992 period was, in the event of war, to defend the Fulda Gap in Germany. They did spend some time in the Gulf War but our John Doe predates that so it is likely he would have only been in Germany.
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Insignia of the 3rd Armored Division. "Spearhead" was adopted as the nickname of the 3rd Armored Division in recognition of the division's role as the "spearhead" of many attacks during the liberation of France in 1944.
— US Holocaust Memorial Museum - Collections |
The "Hosea" patch is likely the personal name on his jacket (I haven't seen photos of the jacket) and so I started a search on that as a surname but nothing interesting is coming up. Even taking out his date of birth, and assuming the jacket isn't his, I'm not finding anyone with that surname who is associated with that division.
I did find that surname associated with a man who lived in the area where John Doe was found. He has passed away but it was sometime after this man was found so this isn't him, however, he was in the Army so it is possible this was his jacket.
I have sent emails to: the medical examiner responsible for this case, and some 3rd Armored Division websites to see what further information they can provide. When I hear back I'll update this posting.
Here is the DoeNetwork.org case profile for him.
I did find that surname associated with a man who lived in the area where John Doe was found. He has passed away but it was sometime after this man was found so this isn't him, however, he was in the Army so it is possible this was his jacket.
I have sent emails to: the medical examiner responsible for this case, and some 3rd Armored Division websites to see what further information they can provide. When I hear back I'll update this posting.
Here is the DoeNetwork.org case profile for him.