Holt, Max Swain
Army Private

Max Swain Holt, age 18, from Los Angeles County Bell Gardens, California .

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Monday, April 30, 1951
Death details: On February 5, 1951, Allied forces in Korea launched an offensive against North Korean and Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) north of Wonju. Republic of Korea units and the 38th Infantry Regiment and supporting artillery units, including the 15th and 503rd Field Artillery Battalions, and the 82nd Antiaircraft Artillery and Automatic Weapons Battalion, initially met light resistance on their drive to the north. On February 11, the CCF launched an aggressive counteroffensive that caused the Allies to withdraw back southward. However, the CCF had established a series of roadblocks on the road to the south, forcing the Allies to fight their way back to friendly lines. Private First Class Max Swain Holt entered the U.S. Army from California and was a member of Company L, 3rd Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. On February 13, 1951, he was clearing a roadblock north of Wonju, South Korea, when he was taken as a prisoner of war (POW). Following his capture, he was marched with other prisoners to temporary holding camps in North Korea. Private First Class Holt died on April 30, 1951, at a camp near Pyongyang. U.S. investigators have not been able to access the area to search for his burial site, and he was not associated with any of the remains later returned to U.S. custody. Today, Private First Class Holt 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, Santa Barbara News Press (1951)