Kailianu, Robert Wilcox
Army Private 1st class

Robert Wilcox Kailianu from Hawaii.

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Sunday, July 16, 1950
Death details: On the evening of July 15, 1950, the U.S. Army’s 19th Infantry Regiment held defensive positions along the south bank of the Kum River. As dusk approached, North Korean People’s Army (NKPA) tanks appeared on the opposite shore and began firing on the U.S. positions. Although U.S. troops repulsed the attacks that evening, the next morning the NKPA crossed the river and launched a major attack against the 19th Regiment. As the regiment began withdrawing south to Taejon, the North Koreans pushed deep into their defensive lines and set up a roadblock en route to Taejon. When retreating American convoys could not break through the roadblock, soldiers were forced to leave the road and attempt to make their way in small groups across the countryside. Of the 900 soldiers in the 19th Infantry when the Battle of Kum River started, only 434 made it to friendly lines. Corporal Robert Wilcox Kailianu entered the U.S. Army from Hawaii and served with Company D, 1st Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was captured on July 16, during the Battle of Kum River, while his unit was withdrawing through and around enemy roadblocks outside Taejon. He was moved between various holding camps, and eventually became a part of the Tiger March to the “Apex” prisoner of war (POW) camps located in North Korea. He died of exhaustion and malnutrition during the last week of December 1950 in the camp at the village of Hanjang-ni. Cpl Kailianu was buried by his companions near the camp; however, his remains were not recovered or identified after the ceasefire. Today, Corporal Kailianu is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency