Kappler, Gerald Dean
Army Private
Gerald Dean Kappler from South Dakota, Lake 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. Private First Class Gerald Dean Kappler entered the U.S. Army from South Dakota and served with Company A, 1st Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He went missing in action on July 16, 1950, following his unit’s attempt to withdraw around an enemy roadblock outside Taejon during the Battle of Kum River. Private First Class Kappler was never reported as a prisoner of war, and his remains were not recovered or identified following the conflict. Today, Private First Class Kappler is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
