Alexander, Howard Eugene
Army Private

Howard Eugene Alexander, age 28, from Alabama, Jefferson county.

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Thursday, November 2, 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 Howard E. Alexander, who joined the U.S. Army from Alabama, was a member of Company A of the 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. On November 1, while in defensive positions near Unsan, members of Company A began to sustain CCF rocket and infantry attacks. When Chinese forces infiltrated a gap between the 1st and 2nd battalions and moved aggressively into Unsan, the Americans were forced to begin a withdrawal from the area. Private First Class Alexander went missing during the withdrawal. Tactical circumstances prevented a search for him from being conducted, and he was not reported as a prisoner of war. He remains unaccounted for. Today, Private First Class Alexander is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency