Edward Richard Evans, age 22, from Mercer County West Virginia.
Spouse: Married
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Sunday, April 15, 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. Sergeant Edward Richard Evans, who joined the U.S. Army from West Virginia, served with Headquarters, Headquarters and Service Company, 2nd Engineer Combat Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division. He was captured by enemy forces during his unit’s withdrawal from Kunu-ri to Sunchon. He was marched northward with a large group of other prisoners and died on 15 April 1951 of malnutrition soon after reaching Camp 5 at Pyoktong. His remains have not been among those returned by North Korea thus far. Sergeant Evans is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Courier Journal (1951)