Budke, John Frederick Jr.
Army Corporal

John Frederick Jr. Budke, age 18, from Venango County Pennsylvania.

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. Sergeant John Frederick Budke entered the U.S. Army from Pennsylvania and served in L Company of the 3rd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. During the withdrawal to Sunchon, the 23rd Infantry Regiment established a defensive area at Hill 201 on the south side of the Namdae River. Several clashes with CCF occurred during this time, and SGT Budke was captured by the advancing enemy. He was put in a group of other prisoners of war (POWs) forced to march to a prison camp on the banks of the Yalu River, though SGT Budke died before reaching the camp. His remains were not recovered, and he was not identified among those returned to the U.S. following the war. Today, Sergeant Budke 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, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency