Milligan, Richard
Army Private 1st Class

Richard Milligan, age 19, from Piatt County Lincoln, Illinois .

Parents: Mary M. Spurling

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Monday, July 16, 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. Corporal Richard Milligan entered the U.S. Army from Illinois and was a member of B Company, 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. On February 12, 1951, he was taken captive at a roadblock during the 38th Infantry Regiment’s withdrawal to the south. After his capture, he was marched with other prisoners of war (POWs) to holding camps in North Korea. Corporal Milligan eventually arrived at the Changson POW Camp, where he died of unknown causes on July 16, 1951. U.S. investigators have not been able to access the area to search for his burial site, and he has not been associated with any of the remains later returned to U.S. custody after the war. Today, Corporal Milligan 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, Illinois State Register (1953)