Craig, Robert Paul
Army Corporal

Robert Paul Craig, age 22, from Pennsylvania, Cambria 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. Sergeant Robert Paul Craig, who joined the U.S. Army from Pennsylvania, was a member of Company A of the 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. On November 1, 1950, Company A was occupying defensive positions with the 1st Battalion near Unsan when it came under an intense rocket and mortar attack accompanied by infantry assaults and was forced to withdraw. Sergeant Craig went missing during the withdrawal and could not be located following the incident. Specific details surrounding his loss are unknown. He was never reported as a prisoner of war and his remains were not among those returned to U.S. custody after the ceasefire. Today, Sergeant Craig is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives