Hopkins County Texas

Chapman, Sam
Army Sergeant 1st class

Sam Chapman, age 18, from Hopkins County Sulphur Springs, Texas .

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Friday, December 1, 1950
Death details: By mid-November 1950, U.S. and Allied forces had advanced to within approximately sixty miles of the Yalu River, the border between North Korea and China. On November 25, approximately 300,000 Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) “volunteers” suddenly and fiercely counterattacked after crossing the Yalu. The 2nd Infantry Division, located the farthest north of units at the Chongchon River, could not halt the CCF advance and was ordered to withdraw to defensive positions at Sunchon in the South Pyongan province of North Korea. As the division pulled back from Kunu-ri toward Sunchon, it conducted an intense rearguard action while fighting to break through well-defended roadblocks set up by CCF infiltrators. The withdrawal was not complete until December 1, and the 2nd Infantry Division suffered extremely heavy casualties in the process. Master Sergeant Sam Chapman, who joined the U.S. Army from Texas, served with Battery C, 38th Field Artillery Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division. He was wounded during his unit’s fighting withdrawal south from Kunu-ri to Sunchon, and was captured by enemy forces. They marched him northward towards a prisoner of war holding center in the Pukchin-Tarigol Valley, but he died of his wounds before reaching the center. No burial information is available. His remains have not been identified among those returned to U.S. custody. Today, Master Sergeant Chapman 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

Martin, John Allen
Army Corporal

John Allen Martin from Ridgeway, Texas, Hopkins 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 John Allen Martin entered the U.S. Army from Texas and served with Company D, 1st Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was captured on July 16, during the Battle of Kum River, while his unit was withdrawing through and around enemy roadblocks outside Taejon. After being moved between various holding camps for a few months, he became a part of the “Tiger March” to the “Apex” prisoner of war (POW) camps, and on September 5 he was moved by train to Manpo, North Korea on the south bank of the Yalu River. Upon arriving at Manpo, SGT Martin was mortally ill and died on or about July 31, 1951, at a former Japanese police compound which was being used as the third of the “Apex” camp sites. Companions buried him a short distance away; however, his remains have not been recovered or identified following the conflict. Today, Sergeant Martin is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Patterson, Harold Lemuel
Navy Seaman 1st class

Harold Lemuel Patterson, age 19, from Hopkins County Ridgeway, Texas .

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Sunday, December 7, 1941
Death details: Killed aboard the USS Arizona. Remains not recovered.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Honolulu Star Advertiser (2016)

Galloway, William M.
Private

William M. Galloway from Como, Texas, Hopkins county.

Service era: World War I

Date of death: Friday, November 1, 1918
Death details: Killed in action
Cemetery: Arlington National

Source: Soldiers of the Great War, findagrave.com

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