Stewart, Robert Edwin
Army Private 1st class

Robert Edwin Stewart from Michigan, Wayne county.

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Tuesday, December 26, 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 Robert Edwin Stewart, who joined the U.S. Army from Michigan, served with L Company, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was captured by enemy forces as his unit fought a series of delaying actions between Pyongtaek and Chochiwon, and forced to march to the Apex prison camps in North Korea. He died of malnutrition at the camp at Hanjang-ni on December 26, and was buried near the camp by his companions. His remains were not identified among those returned to U.S. custody after the ceasefire. Today, Corporal Stewart is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency