Torres, Elias Eli
Army Corporal
Elias Eli Torres, age 19, from Guadalupita, New Mexico, Mora county.
Parents: Luisita Torres
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Sunday, November 5, 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 Elias Eli Torres entered the U.S. Army from New Mexico and was a member of E Company of the 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. On November 5, 1950, E Company was in defensive positions with the 2nd Battalion near Unsan when it was nearly surrounded by the CCF, came under heavy attack, and was forced to withdraw. Withdrawing to the south, the battalions took heavy casualties as they fought through Chinese roadblocks in Unsan and on the Unsan-Ipsok road. It was during this withdrawal combat when CPL Torres received a massive chest wound. His life could not be saved, and the chaotic nature if the fighting prevented the recovery of his remains. After the close of the war, survivors of this incident affirmed witnessing CPL Torres’ death. He has not been identified among any remains returned to U.S. custody after the ceasefire. Today, Corporal Torres is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, National Archives, Albuquerque Tribune (1950)