Lenz, Robert George
Army Private 1st class

Robert George Lenz from Wisconsin, Rock county.

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 G. Lenz entered the U.S. Army from Wisconsin and served with Company C, 1st Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He went missing on July 16, during the Battle of Kum River, while attempting to withdraw through an enemy roadblock outside Taejon. He could not be located after the battle and was reported as missing in action (MIA); however, after the war, his name was discovered on a list of prisoners of war (POWs) called the “Johnny Johnson” list, and his name was mentioned by two returned American POWs. The “Johnny Johnson” list also indicates he died in captivity on December 25, 1950. While this information is likely accurate, CPL Lenz’s remains have not been recovered, and he was not identified among any of the remains returned to the U.S. following the war. Today, Corporal Lenz is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency