Fostoria Ohio

Wagner, Rex Eugene
Army Private 1st class

Rex Eugene Wagner, age 17, from Fostoria, Ohio, Hancock county.

Parents: Viola Wagner

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Thursday, November 2, 1950
Death details: On March 22, 2007, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC, now DPAA) identified the remains of Corporal Rex Eugene Wagner, missing from the Korean War. Corporal Wagner entered the U.S. Army from Ohio and served with Company L, 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. On November 2, 1950, members of Company L were occupying a defensive position near Unsan, North Korea, north of a bend in the Kuryong River known as the “Camel’s Head Bend.” That day, elements of the Chinese Communist Forces struck the 1st Cavalry Division’s lines, collapsing the perimeter and forcing a withdrawal. CPL Wagner did not survive this combat, though the exact details surrounding his loss are unknown. His body was not recovered at that time by U.S. forces. In 2002, a U.S. team excavated a grave south of Unsan where they recovered human remains associated with American forces lost near “Camel’s Head Bend,” and U.S. analysts identified CPL Wagner from these remains.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Chillicothe Gazette (1954)

Shank, George Jacob
Army Sergeant

George Jacob Shank, age 24, from Fostoria, Ohio, Seneca county.

Parents: Ema Jane Shank

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Wednesday, November 1, 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. Sergeant First Class George Jacob Shank joined the U.S. Army from Ohio and was a member of Company G of the 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. On November 1, 1950, Company G was in defensive positions with the 2nd Battalion near Unsan, when it came under intense rocket and mortar attacks and infantry assaults and was forced to withdraw. Sergeant First Class Shank went missing during this action, though circumstances surrounding his loss are unknown. He was never officially reported as a prisoner of war, and his remains have not been identified among any returned to the U.S. following the war. Today, Sergeant First Class Shank is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Sandusky Register (1950)

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