Crimin, Asa John Jr
Army Corporal

Asa John Jr Crimin, age 26, from Baker, Oregon, Baker county.

Parents: Mattie M. Crimin

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 Asa John Crimin Jr., who joined the U.S. Army from Oregon, was a member of Battery A, 99th Field Artillery Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division. On November 1, 1950, Battery A was supporting 8th Cavalry Regiment elements near Unsan when they received orders to withdraw. After completing firing missions, units of the 99th Field Artillery preceded down the Unsan-Ipsok road to join with elements of the 3rd Battalion at its command post, south of Unsan, where this group found themselves surrounded and under heavy CCF attacks. Sergeant Crimin went missing during the action, though specific details regarding his loss are unknown. He was not reported as a prisoner of war and his remains were not among any that North Korean officials returned to U.S. custody after the ceasefire. Today, Sergeant Crimin is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Eugene Guard (1950)