Keenan, William Ryan
Army Private 1st class

William Ryan Keenan, age 27, from Washington, Clark county.

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Wednesday, November 1, 1950
Death details: During the last week of October 1950, Republic of Korea (ROK) Army forces under the control of the U.S. Eighth Army were advancing deep in North Korean territory, approaching the Yalu River on the Chinese-Korean border. Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) struck back in a surprise attack, engaging the ROK 1st and 6th Divisions near Unsan, some sixty miles north of Pyongyang. The U.S. 1st Cavalry Division, with the 8th Cavalry Regiment in the lead, was rushed forward to reinforce the ROK units in the Unsan area. On November 1, the regiment’s 1st Battalion took up positions north of Unsan, while the 2nd Battalion moved to guard the Nammyon River valley west of town, and the 3rd Battalion was placed in reserve at the valley’s southern end. Private First Class William Ryan Keenan joined the U.S. Army from Washington and was a member of Company A of the 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. On November 1, 1950, Company A was near Unsan when the 1st Battalion came under intense attack and were forced to withdraw. A member of Company A who survived the battle reported that Private First Class Keenan was killed just prior to the withdrawal and fell into the defensive position he had dug during the battle. Conditions on the battlefield would have precluded the recovery of his body. He was never reported as a prisoner of war, and his remains were not identified among those returned to the U.S. following the war. Today, Private First Class Keenan is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency