Fond Du Lac County Wisconsin

Freund, Aloysius Joseph
Army Sergeant

Aloysius Joseph Freund from Wisconsin, Fond du Lac county.

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Sunday, July 16, 1950
Death details: On the evening of July 15, 1950, the U.S. Army’s 19th Infantry Regiment held defensive positions along the south bank of the Kum River. As dusk approached, North Korean People’s Army (NKPA) tanks appeared on the opposite shore and began firing on the U.S. positions. Although U.S. troops repulsed the attacks that evening, the next morning the NKPA crossed the river and launched a major attack against the 19th Regiment. As the regiment began withdrawing south to Taejon, the North Koreans pushed deep into their defensive lines and set up a roadblock en route to Taejon. When retreating American convoys could not break through the roadblock, soldiers were forced to leave the road and attempt to make their way in small groups across the countryside. Of the 900 soldiers in the 19th Infantry when the Battle of Kum River started, only 434 made it to friendly lines. Sergeant First Class Aloysius Joseph Freund entered the U.S. Army from Wisconsin and served with Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was captured on July 16, 1950, during the Battle of Kum River, while his unit was attempting to withdraw through and around an enemy roadblock outside Taejon. After being moved between various holding camps in North Korea, he was eventually interned at the “Apex” camp at Hanjang-ni, where he died of exhaustion and illness during the winter of 1950-51, likely on January 5, 1951. He remains unaccounted for. Today, Sergeant First Class Freund is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Zerfas, Mathias E.
Army Captain

Mathias E. Zerfas, age 36, from Fond du Lac County Fond du Lac, Wisconsin .

Service era: World War II
Military history: Army – 2 General Hospital

Date of death: Tuesday, January 9, 1945
Death details: On December 13, 1944, Japanese forces in the Philippines began the transfer of 1,621 Allied prisoners of war (POWs) to Japan. The POWs were to make the journey aboard transport ships whose harsh conditions and extreme overcrowding led survivors to refer to them as “Hell Ships.” The ships also lacked markings that would distinguish them from any other military target, causing some of them to be attacked by Allied forces who could not identify them as POW transports. On December 14, 1944, Allied aircraft attacked the first ship, the Oryoku Maru, in Subic Bay in the Philippines, killing many Allied POWs who became lost in the water, sank with the ship, or were washed ashore. Survivors of the bombing were put aboard two other ships, the Enoura Maru and the Brazil Maru, to continue on to Japan. During the journey, while anchored in Takao Harbor, Formosa (present-day Taiwan), the Enoura Maru was attacked by Allied aircraft from the USS Hornet (CV-8), killing Allied POWs who were lost in the water, on board the ship, or on the nearby shore. Survivors of the Enoura Maru bombing were loaded onto the Brazil Maru, and reached Japan on January 30, 1945. As a result of these incidents, Allied POWs were lost in the Philippines, at sea between the Philippines and Taiwan, while anchored in Taiwan, at sea between Taiwan and Japan, and in Japan. The attacks on these POW transports ultimately resulted in a series of death notifications from the Japanese government through the International Red Cross (IRC), and some casualties were given up to five different dates of death at various locations during the transfer. Witness accounts from surviving POWs offer detailed information for a handful of casualties, but the specific dates of loss and/or last-known locations for many of these POWs are based on the most recent reported date of death. Captain Mathias E. Zerfas entered the U.S. Army from Wisconsin and served in the 26th Cavalry Chaplain Corps, 2nd General Hospital in the Philippines. He was taken as a prisoner of war following the Japanese invasion of the Philippine islands, and was interned in the islands until December 1944, when he was put aboard the Oryoku Maru for transport to Japan. Records indicate CPT Zerfas was killed several weeks later in the attack on the Enoura Maru; however, these reports often involve information solely furnished by enemy governments, with some casualties given multiple dates of death. Future research may determine that these reports were inaccurate. His remains could not be identified following the war, and CPT Zerfas is still unaccounted-for. Today, Captain Zerfas is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Kenosha News (1943)

Flanders, William W.
Corporal

William W. Flanders from Waupun, Wisconsin, Fond du Lac county.

Service era: World War I

Date of death: Unknown
Death details: Died of disease
Cemetery: Forest Mound, Waupun

Source: Soldiers of the Great War, findagrave.com

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