Whalen, Frederick William
Army Private 1st class

Frederick William Whalen, age 23, from Rhode Island, Providence 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. Corporal Frederick William Whalen, who joined the U.S. Army from Rhode Island, was a member of Company B, 2nd Chemical Mortar Battalion. Three companies of the 2nd Chemical Mortar Battalion had been positioned near Unsan to provide support to the ROK infantry regiments in the area. After midnight on November 1, 1950, U.S. forces near the town were ordered to withdraw to avoid encirclement by the enemy. CCF roadblocks and constant small arms fire led to heavy casualties among the withdrawing men. A firing platoon of Company B was caught behind enemy lines and overrun during the withdraw. Corporal Whalen went missing during this moving battle. He was never reported as a prisoner of war, and he remains unaccounted for. Today, Corporal Whalen is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency