Garrison, Dale Robinson
Army Private 1st class

Dale Robinson Garrison, age 19, from Springdale, Arkansas, Washington county.

Parents: Mary Garrison

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. Corporal Dale Robinson Garrison joined the U.S. Army from Arkansas and was a member of Company E of the 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. On November 1, 1950, members of Company E were near Unsan when they came under heavy attack and were forced to withdraw. Corporal Garrison was captured during the battle and marched with other 8th Cavalry POWs to the Sambokkol temporary holding point in northwest North Korea. Corporal Garrison died while held at Sambokkol as a result of a chest wound that he had received during the combat that led to his capture. Records do not provide a specific date of death or burial location and his name has not been identified among any remains returned to U.S. custody after the ceasefire. Today Corporal Garrison is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Northwest Arkansas Times (1950)