Hartville Missouri

Leslie Darrell Moore, age 21, from Wright County Hartville, Missouri .

Parents: Iva Moore

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Tuesday, July 25, 1950
Death details: By July 1950, the North Korean People’s Army (NKPA) had taken control of Taejon, and the U.S. Eighth Army’s 25th Infantry Division and 1st Cavalry Division were sent into action. The 1st Cavalry Division deployed at Pohang between July 18-21 and immediately advanced west on the Taegu-Taejon road to establish blocking positions at Yongdong and defend the city. The ensuing three-day Battle of Yongdong was intense, and the 1st Cavalry Division was ultimately forced to withdraw on July 25 after the 5th Cavalry Regiment alone had lost 275 men. The battle inflicted heavy casualties on the NKPA and delayed its advance enough to allow United Nations (UN) forces to establish the Pusan Perimeter, but the NKPA still managed to capture many American prisoners of war (POWs). Prisoners were marched north to Seoul before being transferred to camps in Pyongyang. Many POWs were eventually rescued, though many others died from exhaustion and mistreatment. Poor record keeping by the NKPA and strained diplomatic tensions following the war have complicated the identification and recovery of those who went missing during the Battle of Yongdong, and many are still unaccounted for. Sergeant Leslie Darrell Moore entered the U.S. Army from Missouri and served in F Company of the 2nd Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. On July 25, 1950, F Company was attempting to rescue units that had been cut off from American positions in Yongdong and stop an NKPA advance. During this action, F Company saw heavy fighting as they advanced on NKPA positions, splintering the unit into many smaller groups and causing confusion as they attempted to withdraw from the area. Sergeant Moore was lost during this action, and was not seen again following the battle. He was not listed on any official or unofficial POW rosters, and attempts to locate and identify his remains were unsuccessful. Today, Sergeant Moore 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, Springfield News Leader (1950)