Brindel Jr., Clyde Wilbur
Army Sergeant

Clyde Wilbur Brindel Jr., age 21, from Pennsylvania, Philadelphia county.

Parents: Clyde W. Brindel

Service era: Korea
Schools: Germantown High

Date of death: Wednesday, April 25, 1951
Death details: On April 25, 1951, elements of the 24th Infantry Division, including the 21st Infantry Regiment and the 5th Regimental Combat Team, which was attached to the division at the time, were dug into positions north of Seoul, South Korea, where massive Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) had regrouped after their previous attempts to penetrate the valley areas east of Seoul. The CCF launched a renewed offensive against these positions, and despite fierce resistance, could not be stopped. Full enemy divisions were committed in succession, passing around or through their own lines to engage severely outnumbered friendly forces. For several miles, a withdrawal by stages unfolded. Artillery and tanks covered movement after movement, using slight rises in terrain to their full defensive value. The U.S. units suffered heavy casualties and had many men captured during these successive rear guard actions. Sergeant First Class Clyde Wilbur Brindel Jr. entered the U.S. Army from Pennsylvania and was a member of E Company, 2nd Battalion, 5th Infantry Regimental Combat Team, 24th Infantry Division. He went missing on April 25, as members of the 5th Regimental Combat Team (RCT) were providing rear guard cover during this withdrawal action, though circumstances surrounding his loss are unknown. He was never reported as a prisoner of war, and his remains were not identified among those returned to the U.S. since the ceasefire. He remains unaccounted for. Today, Sergeant First Class Brindel is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Philadelphia Inquirer (1954)