Triggs, Gregory W.
Army Private 1st class

Gregory W. Triggs, age 20, from Dane County Madison, Wisconsin .

Service era: Korea
Schools: Saint Andrew’s

Date of death: Wednesday, July 26, 1950
Death details: In late July 1950, elements of the 27th Infantry Regiment, 8th Cavalry Regiment, and other units in the 25th Infantry and 1st Cavalry Divisions were tasked with blocking a North Korean People’s Army (NKPA) advance down the Poun-Hwanggan Highway, toward Kumch’on, roughly thirty-five miles west of Taegu. On July 23 and 24, U.S. units fought a series of engagements against the advancing NKPA forces. Heavy enemy artillery fire barrages forced the U.S. units back slowly until they began to withdraw to new positions on July 26. Over the next three days, the units withdrew and consolidated in Kumch’on, though many American soldiers died, were captured, or went missing during this action.
Private First Class Gregory William Triggs joined the U.S. Army from Wisconsin and was a member of H Company, 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division. He was killed in action on July 26, 1950, near Yongdong, as his unit withdrew to Kumch’on under intense enemy artillery fire. His body was not recovered at the time of his loss, and later investigations of the area failed to locate his remains. He is still unaccounted-for following the ceasefire. Today, Private First Class Triggs 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, World News (1953)