Willis, Cecil McCauley
Army Corporal

Cecil McCauley Willis from Oklahoma, Carter county.

Spouse: Charline J. Willis

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 Cecil M. Willis, who joined the U.S. Army from Oklahoma, was a member of the Medical Detachment of the 8th Engineer Combat Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division. At the time of his loss, he was supporting Company C of the 8th Engineer Battalion, positioned with the 8th Cavalry Regiment near Unsan. The 8th Cavalry Regiment was cut off from its allies during a CCF surprise attack on November 1. Despite fierce resistance, some of the units were overrun by nightfall, forcing a withdrawal. The retreating men from the 1st and 2nd Battalion passed through the town of Unsan, which was by then thoroughly infiltrated with Chinese, which substantially complicated the withdrawal. Sergeant Willis was lost on November 2, during the retreat. The exact circumstances and location of his loss are unknown, and he was never reported as a prisoner of war. His remains have not been recovered, and he could not be associated with any of the remains that North Korean officials returned to U.S. custody after the armistice. Today, Sergeant Willis is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Durant Weekly News and Bryan County Democrat (1950)