Stokum, Richard W.
Army Private 1st class

Richard W. Stokum, age 24, from Eddy County Carlsbad, New Mexico .

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Friday, August 11, 1950
Death details: On August 11, 1950, twenty members of Company B, 3rd Combat Engineer Battalion, 24th Infantry Division, performed a reconnaissance patrol across the Naktong River to investigate North Korean forces near Chang-dong, South Korea. The patrol crossed to the west bank of the Naktong River, performed their reconnaissance, and were engaged by an enemy force of unknown strength. The patrol was still taking on heavy fire as they crossed the Naktong again to return from the mission, and only five members of the patrol ultimately made it back to friendly positions. Corporal Richard William Stokum joined the U.S. Army from New Mexico and was a member of B Company, 3rd Engineer Combat Battalion, 24th Infantry Division. He went missing in action during the patrol near Chang-dong on August 11. Corporal Stokum was never reported to be a prisoner of war, and he was not identified among remains returned to U.S. custody after the ceasefire. Today, Corporal Stokum 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, Albuquerque Journal (1950)