Morris, Tom Jefferson
Army Corporal

Tom Jefferson Morris, age 19, from Colorado, Delta county.

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Saturday, December 2, 1950
Death details: On the evening of November 27, 1950, Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) launched a massive attack against the U.S. and United Nations (UN) troops stationed in the Chosin Reservoir area in north-east North Korea. The resulting seventeen-day conflict became known as the Battle of Chosin Reservoir. At the time of the initial CCF attack, members of the U.S. Army’s 31st and 32nd Infantry Regiments were defending the area north of Sinhung-ni, on the east side of the reservoir. The defenders were overwhelmed by the numerically superior CCF, and on December 1 were forced to withdraw to friendly lines at Hagaru-ri. Many men were lost or captured during the withdraw, with survivors reaching friendly lines in Hagaru-ri on December 2 and 3. Once at Hagaru-ri, the survivors of the withdrawal manned a section of the perimeter near East Hill, a strong defensive position overlooking the town. On the night of December 3, the Chinese attacked the Hagaru-ri perimeter and overwhelmed the defenders there. Many Americans were killed or went missing during these actions. Sergeant Tom Jefferson Morris, who joined the U.S. Army from Colorado, was a member of I Company, 3rd Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. On December 2, 1950, he was captured by the CCF during the fighting withdrawal to Hagaru-ri. A surviving prisoner reported that SGT Morris died soon after his capture in the Chosin Reservoir area. He was not identified among remains returned to U.S. custody following the end of hostilities. Today, Sergeant Morris is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency