Stockman, Richard Wayne
Army Private

Richard Wayne Stockman, age 20, from Oregon, Multnomah county.

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Saturday, July 29, 1950
Death details: On July 30, 1950, the 24th Infantry Division’s undermanned and ill-equipped 19th Infantry Regiment, which had been rushed to Korea from garrison duty in Japan, established defensive lines around the South Korean city of Chinju. The soldiers of the 19th Infantry faced the North Korean People’s Army (NKPA), which was moving inexorably south down the Korean peninsula. The unit lacked heavy artillery and anti-tank weaponry, and the Americans were ultimately unable to stop the NKPA and were forced to withdraw further south to prevent being surrounded. Private First Class Richard Wayne Stockman, who joined the U.S. Army from Oregon, served with M Company, 3rd Battalion, 29th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was captured by enemy forces on July 29 as the 3rd Battalion fought the NKPA for control of Hadong Pass. He died of malnutrition in mid-October near the outskirts of Pyongyang, North Korea, and was buried near the railroad station northwest of the city. United Nations forces captured Pyongyang shortly afterward, and PFC Stockman’s remains were moved to the United Nations Military Cemetery in Pyongyang. Within weeks, the city was retaken by enemy forces and never regained. Private First Class Stockman’s remains were not identified among those from the UN Cemetery that were returned to U.S. custody after the war, and he is still unaccounted for. Today, Private First Class Stockman is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency , Salam Statesman Journal