Hancock, Harold Eugene
Marine Corps Private

Harold Eugene Hancock from Granite City, Illinois, Madison county.

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Wednesday, November 29, 1950
Death details: On the evening of November 27, 1950, a huge Chinese force launched an attack against the U.S. and United Nations (UN) troops stationed in the Chosin Reservoir area in north-east North Korea. The resulting seventeen-day conflict became known as the Battle of Chosin Reservoir. After a fierce defense, U.S. and UN forces attempted to withdraw south from the Chosin Reservoir to the port of Hungnam. A single seventy-eight-mile roadway connecting the reservoir to Hungnam offered the only retreat route, and the withdrawing men faced significant enemy resistance as they traveled down it, attempting to avoid encirclement. After suffering heavy casualties, the U.S. and UN troops eventually broke through Chinese lines and reached Hungnam. Private Harold Eugene Hancock, who joined the U.S. Marine Corps from Illinois, served with Company F, 2nd Battalion, 7th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division. He was killed in action on November 29, 1950, during the Battle of Chosin Reservoir, as Company F defended a prominent hill overlooking Toktong Pass from the CCF. The Marines named the prominence “Fox Hill” in honor of the men who defended it. After the battle, Private Hancock was buried at the base of Fox Hill; however, his remains could not be located or identified following the war. Today, Private Hancock is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency