Griffith, Harold Wilson
Army Private 1st class

Harold Wilson Griffith, age 21, from Baltimore, Maryland, Baltimore county.

Parents: Harold W. Griffith

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. Corporal Harold Wilson Griffith Jr. entered the U.S. Army from Maryland and served with the Heavy Mortar Company, 5th Infantry Regimental Combat Team, 24th Infantry Division. He was captured by the CCF during this action on April 25. He eventually died while a prisoner on August 31. His burial location is unknown, and his remains were not identified among those returned to U.S. custody after the war. Today, Corporal Griffith is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Philadelphia Inquirer (1951