Arwood, Recil Paul
Army Private 1st class

Recil Paul Arwood, age 20, from Duffield, Virginia, Scott county.

Parents: E.D. Arwood

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. Corporal Recil Paul Arwood, who joined the U.S. Army from Virginia, was a member of Battery C of the 99th Field Artillery Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division. On November 1, CPL Arwood was with Battery C positioned just south of Unsan in support of the 8th Cavalry units operating in the area. By midnight, the 8th Cavalry was ordered to retreat to Ipsok, North Korea, and the 99th Field Artillery was ordered to provide cover before withdrawing itself. However, as they withdrew along the road south from Unsan, CPL Arwood’s unit met several enemy roadblocks and were subsequently cut off from Allied forces. The unit formed a defense that withstood enemy attack for four days before being overrun. Corporal Arwood went missing on November 2 during this defensive, though specific details regarding his loss are unknown. He was never seen alive in enemy custody, and his remains were not recovered or identified following the war. Today, Corporal Arwood is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Kingsport Times (1953)