Alger County Michigan

Edward Fredrin Perry, age 31, from Alger County Munising, Michigan .

Spouse: Ruth Anne Perry

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Saturday, July 29, 1950
Death details: On July 28, 1950, members of the 3rd Battalion, 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division, were in defensive positions near Kochang, South Korea, west of the Naktong River. They served as part of a defensive formation soon to be known as the Pusan Perimeter, meant to delay the North Korean People’s Army’s (NKPA) advance through South Korea long enough so that reinforcements could arrive at Pusan Harbor. That night, members of the 34th Infantry reported seeing a procession of enemy tanks and infantry assemble behind a roadblock west of Kochang. The next morning, this NKPA force attacked the 34th Infantry positions from two directions. Continuous enemy fire eventually forced the regiment to withdraw to the east; however, Company I was cut off by the NKPA. A counterattack was successful in rescuing all but one platoon from Company I, though many men were killed or went missing during these actions. Master Sergeant Edward Fredrin Perry entered the U.S. Army from Michigan and was a member of I Company, 3rd Battalion, 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was reported as missing in action during the fighting on July 29, though the exact circumstances of his loss cannot be confirmed. His last name and rank appear on the blackboard of a school house near Seoul that was used as a prisoner holding point, and further evidence suggests he died in late October 1950 after passing through Pyongyang. However, there is no concrete evidence as to his fate after July 29, and his remains were never recovered or identified following the war. Today, Master Sergeant Perry 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, UP (1954), Associated Press (1954)