Wakefield, Joseph William
Army Private

Joseph William Wakefield, age 25, from Shiawassee County Wakefield, Michigan .

Spouse: Agatha (Parker)

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Tuesday, July 25, 1950
Death details: By July 1950, the North Korean People’s Army (NKPA) had taken control of Taejon, and the U.S. Eighth Army’s 25th Infantry Division and 1st Cavalry Division were sent into action. The 1st Cavalry Division deployed at Pohang between July 18-21 and immediately advanced west on the Taegu-Taejon road to establish blocking positions at Yongdong and defend the city. The ensuing three-day Battle of Yongdong was intense, and the 1st Cavalry Division was ultimately forced to withdraw on July 25 after the 5th Cavalry Regiment alone had lost 275 men. The battle inflicted heavy casualties on the NKPA and delayed its advance enough to allow United Nations (UN) forces to establish the Pusan Perimeter, but the NKPA still managed to capture many American prisoners of war (POWs). Prisoners were marched north to Seoul before being transferred to camps in Pyongyang. Many POWs were eventually rescued, though many others died from exhaustion and mistreatment. Poor record keeping by the NKPA and strained diplomatic tensions following the war have complicated the identification and recovery of those who went missing during the Battle of Yongdong, and many are still unaccounted for. Private Joseph William Wakefield entered the U.S. Army from Michigan and served in the Service Battery of the 77th Field Artillery Battalion, 1st Cavalry Division. He was killed in action on July 25, 1950, during the Battle of Yongdong, while driving a weapons carrier. Friendly forces were unable to recover his body as they withdrew from Yongdong, and by the time American forces retook the area in September, his remains could not be located. Further attempts to recover them have been unsuccessful. Today, Private Wakefield 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, Lansing State Journal (1950)