Martin, John W.
Army Private

John W. Martin from New York, Saratoga county.

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Saturday, December 2, 1950
Death details:  On September 24, 2018, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Private First Class John William Martin, missing from the Korean War.

Private First Class Martin joined the U.S. Army from New York and was a member of the Medical Company attached to the 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. In November 1950, his unit was a part of the 31st Regimental Combat Team (RCT), which was defending the area north of Sinhung-ni, on the eastern side of the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea. On November 27, Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) launched a large-scale surprise attack against U.S. forces in the Chosin Reservoir. The 31st RCT was forced to initiate a fighting withdrawal southward. PFC Martin went missing in action on December 2 during this withdrawal. He was never reported to be a prisoner of war, and he has not been identified among remains returned to U.S. custody after the war. In September 2001, a joint U.S. and North Korean investigative team recovered remains from a burial site near where the 31st RCT fought in the Chosin Reservoir. These remains were accessioned into the DPAA laboratory, and PFC Martin was identified among them in 2018.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency