Burrows, John Kenneth
Army 1st lieutenant

John Kenneth Burrows, age 29, from Rhode Island, Bristol county.

Spouse: Esther T. Burrows

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 John K. Burrows, who joined the U.S. Army from Rhode Island, was a member of Company L, 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. On November 2, 1950, 8th Cavalry Regiment elements near Unsan were hit by a surprise enemy mortar attack and Company L was forced to withdraw back to the 3rd Battalion’s command post. 1LT Burrows went missing during the withdrawal. Returning prisoners of war later reported that 1LT Burrows had been taken captive, and had died of beriberi and was buried at the Pyoktong POW Camp on the Yalu River in January or February 1951. However, 1LT Burrows was not identified among the remains that North Korean officials returned to U.S. custody after the ceasefire. Today, First Lieutenant Burrows is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Boston Globe (1953)