Spiller, William Rallie
Army Corporal

William Rallie Spiller from Brazos County Freeport, Texas .

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Unknown
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. Sergeant William Rallie Spiller entered the U.S. Army from Texas and was a member of B Company, 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He was initially reported as missing in action during the Regiment’s fighting withdrawal in February 1951, but later reports from returned prisoner of wars (POWs) indicated that he had been captured by enemy forces. He was reportedly injured or frostbitten at the time, and U.S. investigators concluded that he most likely died within a week of being captured. There is no evidence that he reached the major POW facility at Suan Bean, where prisoners captured at the time were being gathered. The disposition of his remains is unknown. U.S. investigators have not been able to access possible loss areas to search for his burial site, and he has not been associated with any of the remains later returned to U.S. custody. Today, Sergeant Spiller 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, Associated Press (1954)