Hannon, Arthur Thomas
Army Private 1st Class

Arthur Thomas Hannon, age 19, from Grundy County Morris, Illinois .

Parents: Francis Hannon

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Wednesday, July 26, 1950
Death details: In late July 1950, elements of the 27th Infantry Regiment, 8th Cavalry Regiment, and other units in the 25th Infantry and 1st Cavalry Divisions were tasked with blocking a North Korean People’s Army (NKPA) advance down the Poun-Hwanggan Highway, toward Kumch’on, roughly thirty-five miles west of Taegu. On July 23 and 24, U.S. units fought a series of engagements against the advancing NKPA forces. Heavy enemy artillery fire barrages forced the U.S. units back slowly until they began to withdraw to new positions on July 26. Over the next three days, the units withdrew and consolidated in Kumch’on, though many American soldiers died, were captured, or went missing during this action.
Corporal Arthur Thomas Hannon entered the U.S. Army from Illinois and served in Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion of the 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division. He was initially reported missing in action on July 26, during his unit’s withdrawal toward Kumch’on. However, following the close of hostilities, former prisoners of war (POWs) reported that CPL Hannon was a fellow POW and died of malnutrition in enemy captivity on November 23, and was buried in Chungong, North Korea. Attempts to locate and identify his remains have been unsuccessful. Today, Corporal Hannon 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, Morris Herald News (1951)