Dawson, Wallace James
Army Corporal

Wallace James Dawson from Santa Barbara County Santa Barbara, California .

Parents: Millard A. Dawson

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Unknown
Death details: On March 7, 2015, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Sergeant Wallace James Dawson, missing from the Korean War. Sergeant Dawson, who entered the U.S. Army from California, served with L Company, 3rd Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. On February 14, 1951, his unit was occupying a defensive position near Sangsok, South Korea, when it was overrun by Chinese Communist Forces. SGT Dawson was captured during this action and taken to Changsong POW Camp 1 in North Korea, where he died of malnutrition in June 1951 and was buried near the camp. Following the war, as part of Operation Glory, SGT Dawson’s remains were repatriated to the U.S. but they were not able to be identified and were buried as unknowns at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, Hawaii. In 2014, advances in forensic technology prompted the disinterment and eventual identification SGT Dawson from these remains. Sergeant Dawson is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. His name is also inscribed on the Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC, which was updated in 2022 to include the names of the fallen.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Santa Barbara News Press (1954)