Bobbs, John William
Army Corporal

John William Bobbs, age 19, from Mount Plesant, Pennsylvania, Westmoreland county.

Parents: Agnes E. Bobbs

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. Sergeant John W. Bobbs, who joined the U.S. Army from Pennsylvania, was a member of Company L of the 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. On November 2, 1950, Company L in a defensive position within the 3rd Battalion perimeter near Unsan when it was hit by a surprise enemy mortar attack and forced to withdraw back to the 3rd Battalion’s command post. Once near the command post, SGT Bobbs was among a group of troops who were attacked by enemy forces and surrounded. After two days the command post’s defensive position was overrun; Sergeant Bobbs was captured some time during this battle. Prisoners in his group were marched to the northwest towards POW Camp 5 at Pyoktong on the North Korean side of the Yalu River. Sergeant Bobbs died at Sambakkol, a POW holding point about 10 miles south of Pyoktong according to U.S. prisoners who returned from captivity in 1953. He was not identified among the remains that North Korean officials returned to U.S. custody after the ceasefire. Today, Sergeant Bobbs is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Pittsburgh Press (1950)