Marvin Lyle Whitehead, age 18, from Coon Rapids, Minnesota, Anoka county.
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Sunday, July 30, 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. Corporal Marvin Lyle Whitehead joined the U.S. Army from Minnesota and was a member of M Company, 3rd Battalion, 29th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He went missing in action against the NKPA near Chinju on July 30, 1950. CPL Whitehead was never reported to be a prisoner of war, and he remains unaccounted-for following the incident. Today, Corporal Whitehead is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency