Rubel, Charles Daniel
Army Private 1st class

Charles Daniel Rubel from Coshocton County Ohio.

Parents: Joseph W. Rubel

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Tuesday, November 28, 1950
Death details: On November 27, 1950, the 31st Regimental Combat Team (RCT), tasked with replacing the 5th Marine Regiment on the east side of the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea, arrived at the P’ungnyuri Inlet. That night, Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) launched a massive surprise attack against the soldiers and Marines at the inlet. The 31st RCT managed to repel the numerically superior CCF’s initial attack; however, the enemy continued to attack over the next two nights. On December 1, the 31st RCT began its withdrawal from the P’ungnyuri Inlet to Hagaru-ri. Corporal Charles Daniel Rubel, who joined the U.S. Army from Ohio, served with the Medical Company, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was captured by enemy forces on November 28, 1950, when his medical convoy was ambushed by the CCF while en route to the P’ungnyuri Inlet. He was marched to Camp # 5 on the Yalu River, where he died of malnutrition on March 28, 1951. His burial location is unknown, and his remains were not identified among those returned to U.S. custody after the war. Today, Corporal Rubel is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. His name is also inscribed on the Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC, which was updated in 2022 to include the names of the fallen.

Source: National Archives, The Tribune (1951)