Forsythe, Robert N.
Army Corporal

Robert N. Forsythe from Massachusetts, Plymouth county.

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Sunday, November 26, 1950
Death details: On November 25, 1950, Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) attacked en masse all along the U.S. Eighth Army front on both sides of the Ch’ ongch’ on River in northwestern North Korea. The 2nd Infantry Division and supporting units, vastly outnumbered, were forced to conduct fighting withdrawals to the south to prevent Chinese flanking maneuvers. Chinese troops overran some of the artillery and mortar units that were in positions along the River during the beginning of their offensive. Sergeant Robert Norman Forsythe, who joined the U.S. Army from Massachusetts, served with C Company, 2nd Chemical Mortar Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division. He went missing in action on November 26, 1950, between Yongdam-ni and Kunu-ri as the 2nd Infantry Division was withdrawing to Sunchon. No one saw him fall, and he was not reported to be a prisoner of war. The area where he went missing remained in enemy hands for the duration of the war, so searches could not be conducted for him. After the war, his remains were not identified among those returned to U.S. custody. Today, Sergeant Forsythe is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency