John Norman Lapointe, age 18, from Fall River, Massachusetts, Bristol 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. Corporal John Norman LaPointe, who joined the U.S. Army from Massachusetts, was a member of Battery C, 99th Field Artillery Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division. He went missing in action on November 2, 1950, during the withdrawal from Unsan, though specific details regarding his loss are unknown. He was never seen alive in enemy custody, though the enemy made a propaganda broadcast indicating he was in captivity. His remains were not located or identified following the war. Today, Corporal LaPointe 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 (1952)