James Edward Mansell, age 17, from Pickens County Easley, South Carolina .
Parents: Willie F. Mansell
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Wednesday, May 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. Private First Class James Edward Mansell, who joined the U.S. Army from South Carolina, served with Battery A, 503rd Field Artillery battalion, 2nd Infantry Division. He was captured by enemy forces on February 12, 1951, as his unit fought through a series of CCF roadblocks en route to Wonju. He was marched to a temporary holding camp at Suan, North Korea, where he died of malnutrition and dysentery on May 16, 1951. No burial information is available, and his remains were not identified among those returned to U.S. custody after the war. Private First Class Mansell 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, Times and Democrat (1951)
