Albany County New York

Donald Charles Efland, age 27, from New York, Albany county.

Parents: John C. Efland

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Thursday, November 2, 1950
Death details: During the last week of October 1950, Republic of Korea (ROK) Army forces under the control of the U.S. Eighth Army were advancing deep in North Korean territory, approaching the Yalu River on the Chinese-Korean border. Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) struck back in a surprise attack, engaging the ROK 1st and 6th Divisions near Unsan, some sixty miles north of Pyongyang. The U.S. 1st Cavalry Division, with the 8th Cavalry Regiment in the lead, was rushed forward to reinforce the ROK units in the Unsan area. On November 1, the regiment’s 1st Battalion took up positions north of Unsan, while the 2nd Battalion moved to guard the Nammyon River valley west of town, and the 3rd Battalion was placed in reserve at the valley’s southern end. Corporal Donald Charles Efland, who joined the U.S. Army from New York, was a member of Company L, 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. On November 2, 1950, Company L was occupying defensive positions with the 3rd Battalion near Unsan when it was hit by an enemy attack and forced to withdraw. Much of the 3rd Battalion became surrounded Corporal Effland went missing during this action. A POW returnee from the war in 1953 had reported he had been killed by enemy artillery on November 2. His remains were not recovered following the battle and he was not identified among the remains returned to U.S. custody after the ceasefire. Today, Corporal Efland is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Troy Record (1953)