Chan, Clarence
Army Private 1st class

Clarence Chan, age 20, from El Cerrito, California, Contra Costa county.

Parents: Ward of Dr. Charles R. Shepherd of Chung Mei Home

Service era: Korea
Schools: El Cerrito High (1949)

Date of death: Monday, April 23, 1951
Death details: On April 22, 1951, elements of the 24th Infantry Division along with the 5th Regimental Combat Team (RCT) were dug into positions near Seoul, South Korea, where the Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) had regrouped and begun a large-scale effort to penetrate the valley areas east of Seoul. Just prior to the main CCF offensive, the 5th RCT was executing part of a blocking action known as Operation Dauntless, in which its 1st and 2nd Battalions launched an attack against CCF forces in the Chorwon Valley to the north. They pushed the enemy out of the area and set up defensive positions, but the CCF soon regrouped and returned with a massive counterattack. While this assault was repelled, heavy pressure over the next eight days forced the 24th Infantry Division, along with the 5th RCT, to gradually fall back to stronger positions. The U.S. units suffered heavy casualties over the course of the fighting and withdrawal. Corporal Clarence Chan entered the U.S. Army from California and served with A Company, 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry Regimental Combat Team, 24th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action during the fighting against the CCF on April 23, 1951, in an area that is now part of the Demilitarized Zone separating North and South Korea. No one saw him fall in battle, and he was not reported to be a prisoner of war. U.S. forces did not regain control of the area where he fell, and he remains unaccounted-for. Today, Corporal Chan is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Oakland Tribune