Roland Laurent LeBlanc, age 21, from Hillsboro, New Hampshire, Hillsborough county.
Parents: Isabella LeBlanc
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. Private First Class Roland Laurent LeBlanc joined the U.S. Army from New Hampshire and was a member of Company B of the 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. On November 1, 1950, Company B was near Unsan with the 1st Battalion when the unit came under attack and was forced to withdraw. Private First Class LaBlanc went missing during this action,although the exact circumstances surrounding his loss are unknown. He was never reported as a prisoner of war and was not identified among the remains returned to U.S. custody after the ceasefire. Today, Private First Class LaBlanc is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Saint Johnsbury Republican (1954)