Schultz, Richard Joseph
Army Private 1st class

Richard Joseph Schultz from Wisconsin, Manitowoc 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 Richard Joseph Schultz joined the U.S. Army from Wisconsin and was a member of Company K of the 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. On November 2, 1950, Company K was in defensive positions with the 3rd Battalion near Unsan when the 8th Cavalry Regiment was cut off from its allies during a CCF surprise attack and forced to withdraw. It was during the fighting on November 2, that CPL Schultz was captured and eventually marched northwest to the temporary prisoner of war (POW) holding site at Sambakkol, and then to Camp 5 at Old Pyoktong. A returning POW who survived his captivity reported that CPL Schultz died of malnutrition in March 1951, while held at POW Camp 5. His companions buried him on rising ground overlooking the camp, though his remains have not been recovered. Today, Corporal Schultz is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency