William Leonard Bengtson, age 18, from Pennsylvania, Carbon 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. First Lieutenant William Leonard Bengtson, who joined the U.S. Army from Pennsylvania, was a member of Company B of the 2nd Chemical Mortar Battalion. In late October of 1950, 1LT Bengtson and Company B were stationed in the Unsan area to support ROK forces in the region. After midnight on November 1, his unit was forced to withdraw to avoid encirclement by the enemy; however, Company B was unable to withdraw, and most of its members were captured or went missing during the action. First Lieutenant Bengtson was among those who went missing. A POW who returned in 1953 had heard from other members of the unit that First Lieutenant Bengtson had been killed during the battle. He was never seen alive in enemy custody, and his remains were not recovered or identified following the war. Today, First Lieutenant Bengtson is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency