Mick, Joseph William
Army Private 1st class

Joseph William Mick, age 20, from Tomah, Wisconsin, Monroe county.

Parents: Joseph Mick Sr.

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Thursday, November 2, 1950
Death details: During the last week of October 1950, Republic of Korea (ROK) Army forces under the control of the U.S. Eighth Army were advancing deep in North Korean territory, approaching the Yalu River on the Chinese-Korean border. Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) struck back in a surprise attack, engaging the ROK 1st and 6th Divisions near Unsan, some sixty miles north of Pyongyang. The U.S. 1st Cavalry Division, with the 8th Cavalry Regiment in the lead, was rushed forward to reinforce the ROK units in the Unsan area. On November 1, the regiment’s 1st Battalion took up positions north of Unsan, while the 2nd Battalion moved to guard the Nammyon River valley west of town, and the 3rd Battalion was placed in reserve at the valley’s southern end. Corporal Joseph William Mick entered the U.S. Army from Wisconsin and served with Company M of the 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. On November 2, 1950, he was listed as missing in action after Company M came under attack during its withdrawal from the 3rd Battalion Command Post south of Unsan. His remains were not identified among those returned to U.S. custody following the war, and he is still unaccounted for. Today, Corporal Mick is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Wisconsin State Journal (1954)