Robert Earl Parnow, age 20, from San Jose, California, Santa Clara county.
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. Sergeant Robert Earl Parnow joined the U.S. Army from California and was a member of Company D of the 1st Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. On November 2, 1950, members of Company D were in defensive positions with the 1st Battalion near Unsan, when they received orders to withdraw after a massive assault by the Chinese. Sergeant Parnow went missing during the withdrawal, though specific details surrounding his disappearance are unknown. He was not reported as a prisoner of war, and his remains were not among any that were returned to U.S. custody after the ceasefire. Today, Sergeant Parnow is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Los Angeles Times (1954)