William Eugene Brashear, age 24, from Owensboro, Kentucky, Daviess county.
Parents: Gilbert Eugene Brashear and Porter Lou Petri Brashear
Spouse: Thelma Brashear
Children: Alan Eugene Brashear, 11 months
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Thursday, November 2, 1950
Death details: On December 16, 2011, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC, now DPAA) identified the remains of Sergeant William Eugene Brashear, missing from the Korean War. Sergeant Brashear entered the U.S. Army from Kentucky and served with Company B, 70th Medium Tank Battalion, 24th Infantry Division. On November 2, 1950, his company was supporting elements of the 1st Cavalry Division near Unsan, North Korea. That day, Chinese Communist Forces struck the 1st Cavalry Division’s lines, collapsing the perimeter and forcing a withdrawal. Sergeant Brashear was killed during the fighting at Unsan. Due to the intensity of this firefight, his body was not recovered at the time of his loss. In 2000, a joint U.S./North Korean team excavated a mass grave that had been discovered in Unsan, where they recovered human remains correlating to this combat. In 2007, U.S. scientists identified Sgt Brashear among these remains. On March 30, 2012, his remains were brought to Owensboro for burial next to his parents.
Cemetery: Elmwood Cemetery, Owensboro
Source: National Archives, Associated Press, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Owensboro Messenger (1951)