Machen, William Allen
Army Private 1st class

William Allen Machen from Washington, Cowlitz county.

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Tuesday, July 11, 1950
Death details: On July 11, 1950, the U.S. Army’s 21st Infantry Regiment, which had arrived in Korea six days earlier, was placed in defensive positions near the town of Chochiwon, South Korea. The regiment was not at full strength and lacked artillery and anti-tank weapons. That day, they were attacked by North Korean forces and were forced to withdraw to avoid being surrounded, as well as to buy time until they could be reinforced and resupplied. Corporal William Allen Machen, who joined the U.S. Army from Washington, served with I Company, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Division, 24th Infantry Division. He was captured by enemy forces on July 11 as his unit fought delaying actions between Pyongtaek and Chochiwon, and was marched north to the Apex prison camps in North Korea. As his group of prisoners reached the Changsong Pass, CPL Machen collapsed on the side of the road and was shot by a guard, who refused to let the prisoners stop to bury him. His remains were not identified among those returned to U.S. custody after the war, and he is still unaccounted for. Today, Corporal Machen is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency