Tag: Houston Texas

Richard Aguilar, age 18, from Harris County Houston, Texas .

Parents: Mrs. Nieves Gonzalez

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Unknown
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. Corporal Richard Aguilar, who joined the U.S. Army from Texas, served with Battery A, 38th Field Artillery Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division. He was captured by enemy forces on November 30, 1950, as his unit fought through a key pass on the road to Sunchon that was occupied by Chinese Communist Forces. He was marched to a holding camp in the Pukchin Tarigol Valley, where he died of malnutrition and dysentery in January 1951. His remains have not been identified among those returned to U.S. custody. Today, Corporal Aguilar 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, Associated Press (1953)