Koeppel, Clifford L.
Army Private 1st Class

Clifford L. Koeppel, age 24, from New York, Kings county.

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Friday, June 13, 1952
Death details: On June 13, 1952, a platoon of twenty-two tanks from the 140th Tank Battalion, 40th Infantry Division, engaged the enemy near Kumsong, North Korea. Enemy fire destroyed several of the tanks. Some soldiers were killed inside the burning tanks, while others managed to escape. Many of those who were able to get out of their vehicles were picked up by withdrawing tanks, but others were killed by enemy fire before they could be rescued. Corporal Clifford Lewis Koeppel, who joined the U.S. Army from New York, served with Company C, 140th Medium Tank Battalion, 40th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on June 13, 1952, after his unit engaged enemy forces near Kumsong, North Korea. He was last seen at the rear of his disabled tank. Corporal Koeppel was not seen to fall in battle, and he was never reported to be a prisoner of war. His remains were not identified among those returned to U.S. custody after the ceasefire. Today, Corporal Koeppel is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency