Morgan, Melvin Hampton
Army Private 1st class

Melvin Hampton Morgan from North Carolina, Stanly county.

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Wednesday, December 6, 1950
Death details: On July 11, 1950, the U.S. Army’s 21st Infantry Regiment, which had arrived in Korea six days earlier, was placed in defensive positions near the town of Chochiwon, South Korea. The regiment was not at full strength and lacked artillery and anti-tank weapons. That day, they were attacked by North Korean forces and were forced to withdraw to avoid being surrounded, as well as to buy time until they could be reinforced and resupplied. Corporal Melvin Hampton Morgan, who joined the U.S. Army from North Carolina, served with L Company, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was captured by enemy forces on July 11 as his unit fought delaying actions between Pyongtaek and Chochiwon. He was marched north to the Apex prison camps in North Korea, and died of malnutrition at the Hanjang-ni camp on December 6, 1950. Although he was buried nearby, his remains were not identified among those returned to U.S. custody after the ceasefire. Today, Corporal Morgan is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency