Callahan, Carlis Julius
Army Sergeant 1st class

Carlis Julius Callahan, age 34, from Florida, Columbia county.

Parents: W.J. Callahan
Spouse: Married
Children: Carlis Jr. and Dennis

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. Master Sergeant Carlis J. Callahan, who joined the U.S. Army from Florida, was a member of Company M, 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. On November 2, 1950, Company M was providing security for the 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment Command Post near Unsan when it was hit by a surprise enemy mortar and infantry attack. At some point during the attack, MSG Callahan was captured, though specific details are unknown. His name did not appear on any official prisoner of war (POW) records, but surviving POWs reported that MSG Callahan died of internal hemorrhages and was buried at the Pyoktong POW Camp on the Yalu River. His remains were not recovered, nor were they identified among the remains returned to the U.S. following the ceasefire. Today, Master Sergeant Callahan is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Tampa Tribune (1953)