Boyd E. Cox from Kentucky, Whitley county.
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Wednesday, July 5, 1950
Death details: On July 5, 1950, Task Force Smith, the first U.S. ground element to engage North Korean People’s Army (NKPA) troops, was defending a position north of Osan, South Korea. The Task Force’s goal was to delay enemy forces by blocking their movement down the road south from Suwon to Taejon, which was a major avenue of advance for the NKPA. That morning, the Task Force was engaged by a column of enemy tanks. The anti-tank weapons that the infantrymen employed were ineffective, and a large number of tanks broke through their position. Task Force Smith was forced to withdraw to the south, suffering heavy casualties in the process. Corporal Boyd Edward Cox, who joined the U.S. Army from Kentucky, served with B Company, 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. His unit was part of Task Force Smith, and he was captured by enemy forces on July 5 and marched north with other prisoners. He died near Yonchon, South Korea, while en route to the Apex prison camps in North Korea. Searches for his remains have been unsuccessful, and he is still unaccounted for. Today, Corporal Cox is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency