Morris, John C III
Army Corporal

John C III Morris, age 20, from Los Angeles County California.

Parents: John C. Morris Jr.

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Sunday, October 8, 1950
Death details: On July 30, 1950, the 19th and 29th Infantry Regiments of the 24th Infantry Division were deployed in defensive positions along the Chinju-Masan roadway east of Chinju, South Korea. That evening, the North Korean People’s Army (NKPA) attacked the 19th Infantry with overwhelming force, driving them back into the 29th Infantry and pushing both regiments to the south. The next day, the 19th and 29th Infantry Regiments were able to establish new defensive positions to the south of their former positions, though many men were killed or went missing during the action. Sergeant John C. Morris, who joined the U.S. Army from California, served with E Company, 2nd Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was captured by enemy forces on July 31, 1950, as the 19th Infantry conducted a fighting withdrawal to the south. He was marched north towards Pyongyang, North Korea, but died on October 8 at an unknown location en route to Pyongyang when the group of prisoners he was with was mistakenly strafed by friendly aircraft. His body is believed to have been buried by United Nations troops at the U.N. cemetery in Pyongyang. Enemy troops re-took Pyongyang soon afterwards, and the city remained in enemy hands throughout the war. After the war, Sgt Morris’s remains were not identified among those returned to U.S. custody. Today, Sergeant Morris 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, Los Gatos Times Saratoga Observer (1952)