Brown, Willie Lee
Army Sergeant 1st class

Willie Lee Brown, age 26, from Jefferson County Arkansas.

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Thursday, November 30, 1950
Death details: By mid-November 1950, U.S. and Allied forces had advanced to within approximately sixty miles of the Yalu River, the border between North Korea and China. On November 25, approximately 300,000 Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) “volunteers” suddenly and fiercely counterattacked after crossing the Yalu. The 2nd Infantry Division, located the farthest north of units at the Chongchon River, could not halt the CCF advance and was ordered to withdraw to defensive positions at Sunchon in the South Pyongan province of North Korea. As the division pulled back from Kunu-ri toward Sunchon, it conducted an intense rearguard action while fighting to break through well-defended roadblocks set up by CCF infiltrators. The withdrawal was not complete until December 1, and the 2nd Infantry Division suffered extremely heavy casualties in the process. Master Sergeant Willie Lee Brown entered the U.S. Army from Arkansas and served in Company L of the 3rd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He was reported missing on November 30, 1950, as the 23rd Infantry provided cover for withdrawing units from the 2nd Infantry Division, though specific details regarding MSG Brown’s loss are unknown. He was not reported as a prisoner of war, and his remains were not recovered or identified following the conflict. Today, Master Sergeant Brown is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency