Short, Marvin Eugene
Army Private 1st class

Marvin Eugene Short, age 26, from Virginia, Roanoke county.

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Sunday, September 3, 1950
Death details: On September 3, 1950, the 8th Cavalry Regiment and the 2nd Engineer Battalion, both elements of the 1st Cavalry Division, were holding a defensive line between Tabu-dong and Taegu at the upper end of the Naktong Perimeter. Company F of the 8th Cavalry, defending Hill 448, was attacked by elements of North Korea’s 13th Infantry Division and forced to retreat to Hill 449, defended by Company G of the 8th Cavalry. The 8th Cavalry Regiment found itself cut off from its supply train and withdrew from the area to keep from being surrounded by the enemy. Upon reaching the village of Tabu-dong, members of Companies D and E of the 8th Cavalry became involved in hut-to-hut fighting before they could retreat. Meanwhile, elements of the 2nd Engineer Battalion, which had been ordered to take and hold Hill 755, were also forced to withdraw. United States forces did not re-take this territory until September 21, 1950. Private First Class Marvin Eugene Short, who joined the U.S. Army from Virginia, served with F Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. He was reported killed in action on September 3, northeast of Tabu-dong, as his unit withdrew from Hill 448 during a concentrated attack by the 13th Division of the North Korean People’s Army (NKPA). When U.S. forces re-took the area on September 21, an unsuccessful search was conducted for PFC Short’s remains. His remains have not been recovered to date. Today, Private First Class Short is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency