Ferguson, Sam Wayne
Army Sergeant 1st class

Sam Wayne Ferguson from California, Madera county.

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Saturday, January 12, 1952
Death details: On the morning of January 12, 1952, members of Company L, 3rd Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division participated in a combined infantry and tank patrol near Nanoni-Polmukkae, North Korea, in the present-day Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). The patrol targeted an enemy-occupied position, Hill 472. Upon reaching the hill, Company L was met with a wave of machine gun fire and hand grenades. Company L was making progress towards capturing the hill, until enemy forces began receiving support from heavy mortar fire. Shortly after this enemy support arrived, Company L was ordered to withdraw. Fourteen men were lost during this battle for Hill 472. Sergeant First Class Sam Wayne Ferguson, who joined the U.S. Army from California, served with Company L, 3rd Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. On January 12, 1952, Sergeant First Class Ferguson was killed in action while his unit attempted to capture Hill 472. Because his loss occurred in what is now the DMZ, his remains have yet to be recovered, and he is still unaccounted-for. Today, Sergeant First Class Ferguson is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency