Hugh John Drennen, age 23, from Durham County Durham, North Carolina .
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Wednesday, February 28, 1951
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. Master Sergeant Hugh John Drennen, who joined the U.S. Army from North Carolina, served with the Headquarters, Headquarters and Service Company, 2nd Engineer Combat Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division. He was captured by enemy forces on November 30, 1950 as his unit withdrew from Kunu-ri to Sunchon. He and a group of other prisoners were held in a series of villages near the battle area for a few months while the enemy prepared holding camps large enough to contain the prisoners they had captured. Master Sergeant Drennen died of pneumonia in late January or early February, 1951. His remains have not been recovered. Today, Master Sergeant Drennen is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Herald Sun (2005)