Sanford, William Henry
Army Private 1st class

William Henry Sanford, age 18, from Baltimore City County Maryland.

Service era: Korea
Military history: 35th Infantry Regiment

Date of death: Tuesday, November 28, 1950
Death details: On November 25, 1950, the U.S. Army 2nd and 25th Infantry Divisions were holding defensive positions south of the town of Unsan, North Korea, below the Yalu River. On November 26 and 27, Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) attacked the U.S. troops, pushing them through the towns of Ung-dong and Yongsan-dong, and on to Yongbyon, where they were given orders to establish new defensive lines. Corporal William Henry Sanford entered the U.S. Army from Maryland and was a member of H Company, 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division. He went missing in action on or about November 28, during his unit’s movement to Yongbyon. No one reported seeing CPL Sanford fall in combat and he was not reported as a prisoner of war. His remains were not identified among those returned to U.S. custody after the ceasefire, and he is still unaccounted-for. Today, Corporal Sanford is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. His name is also inscribed on the Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC, which was updated in 2022 to include the names of the fallen.

Source: National Archives, 35th Infantry Regiment Association, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency