Lewis, Blair Jr.
Army Corporal

Blair Jr. Lewis, age 23, from Indiana County Indiana, Pennsylvania .

Parents: Blair S. Lewis

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Monday, July 31, 1950
Death details: On July 30, 1950, the 19th and 29th Infantry Regiments of the 24th Infantry Division were deployed in defensive positions along the Chinju-Masan roadway east of Chinju, South Korea. That evening, the North Korean People’s Army (NKPA) attacked the 19th Infantry with overwhelming force, driving them back into the 29th Infantry and pushing both regiments to the south. The next day, the 19th and 29th Infantry Regiments were able to establish new defensive positions to the south of their former positions, though many men were killed or went missing during the action. Sergeant Blair Junior Lewis, who joined the U.S. Army from Pennsylvania, served with G Company, 2nd Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He went missing in action on July 31, 1950, as his unit made a two-day fighting withdrawal to Chinju. No one saw him fall in battle, and he was not reported to be a prisoner of war. After the war, numerous extensive searches of the battlefield failed to locate his remains. Today, Sergeant Lewis 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, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Indiana Gazette (1954)