Richard Charles Heath from New York, Otsego county.
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Sunday, March 18, 1951
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. Master Sergeant Richard Charles Heath, who joined the U.S. Army from New York, served with Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was captured by enemy forces on July 12 near Chochiwon, and was forced to march north to the Apex prison camps in North Korea. He died of exhaustion and pneumonia at the camp near Hanjang-ni on March 18, 1951. He was buried near the camp; however, his remains were not identified among those returned to U.S. custody after the ceasefire. Today, Master Sergeant Heath is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
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