Tony William Douglas, age 18, from Michigan, Alcona county.
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Monday, September 4, 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. Sergeant Tony William Douglas, who joined the U.S. Army from Minnesota, served with D Company, 2nd Engineer Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division. He was reported missing in action on September 4 near Kasan after his unit had tried and failed to capture Hill 755. None of the survivors of the engagement saw him fall, and he was not reported as a prisoner of war. His remains were not recovered after U.S. forces managed to re-take the area in late September, and his remains were not identified among those returned to U.S. custody at the end of hostilities. Today, Sergeant Douglas is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency