Diekmann, Lester Henry
Army Corporal

Lester Henry Diekmann from Iowa, Bremer county.

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Unknown
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 Lester Henry Diekmann, who joined the U.S. Army from Iowa, served with Headquarters Battery, 52nd Field Artillery Battalion, 24th Infantry Division. His unit was assigned to Task Force Smith, which attempted to stop the NKPA’s advance into South Korea. He was captured by enemy forces during the battle on July 5, and forced on a months-long march north to the Apex Camps on the Yalu River. He died of exhaustion and malnutrition on an unspecified day in December, 1950, at the prison camp at Hanjang-ni, and was buried near the camp. After the war, his remains were not identified among those returned to U.S. custody. Today, Corporal Diekmann is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency