Berkeley County West Virginia

Hamilton Perry Horner, age 18, from West Virginia, Berkeley county.

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 Hamilton Perry Horner joined the U.S. Army from West Virginia and served with Headquarters Company of the 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. On November 2, 1950, Headquarters Company was near Unsan with the 3rd Battalion Command Post when they came under heavy attacks and received orders to withdraw. The withdrawing units were eventually surrounded and besieged by CCF and took cover in foxholes or behind bunkers. Corporal Horner was reported missing during this action and could not be located following the incident, though specific details surrounding his loss are unknown. After the war, returned American POWs reported that CPL Horner had been killed in action. His remains were not recovered, and he was not identified among the remains returned to the U.S. following the armistice. Today, Corporal Horner is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency