Clairmont, Donald Joseph
Army Corporal

Donald Joseph Clairmont, age 22, from California, Los Angeles county.

Service era: Korea

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 Donald Joseph Clairmont entered the U.S. Army from California and served with Battery A, 555th Field Artillery, 24th Infantry Division. He was captured by the enemy during this withdrawal, as his unit was moving northeast of Uijongbu and encountered an enemy roadblock. After being taken prisoner, SGT Clairmont was transferred north towards Pyongyang, but died en route of malnutrition on an unrecorded date in June 1951. The disposition of his remains is unknown, and he could not be associated with any of the remains later returned to U.S. custody. Further attempts to locate his remains were unsuccessful. Today, Sergeant Clairmont is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency