Burrer, Guenther August
Army Major sergeant

Guenther August Burrer, age 23, from Gillespie County Fredericksburg, Texas .

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Tuesday, May 15, 1951
Death details: On February 5, 1951, Allied forces in Korea launched an offensive against North Korean and Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) north of Wonju. Republic of Korea units and the 38th Infantry Regiment and supporting artillery units, including the 15th and 503rd Field Artillery Battalions, and the 82nd Antiaircraft Artillery and Automatic Weapons Battalion, initially met light resistance on their drive to the north. On February 11, the CCF launched an aggressive counteroffensive that caused the Allies to withdraw back southward. However, the CCF had established a series of roadblocks on the road to the south, forcing the Allies to fight their way back to friendly lines. Master Sergeant Guenther August Burrer entered the U.S. Army from Texas and was a member of Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. On February 12, 1951, he was clearing a roadblock along the Hongchon-Wonju highway near Hoensong, South Korea, when he was wounded and taken as a POW. After his capture, he was marched toward prisoner holding camps along the Yalu River in North Korea. MSG Burrer reportedly died of his wounds and beriberi on May 15, while held in a schoolhouse along the route, and was buried nearby. U.S. investigators have not been able to access this location to search for his remains, and he has not been associated with any remains returned to U.S. custody after the war. Today, Master Sergeant Burrer is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. His name is also inscribed on the Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC, which was updated in 2022 to include the names of the fallen.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, San Antonio Express News (1954)