Eldred Jennings Hensley from Logan, West Virginia, Logan county.
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Tuesday, October 31, 1950
Death details: On July 5, 1950, Task Force Smith, the first U.S. ground element to engage North Korean People’s Army (NKPA) troops, was defending a position north of Osan, South Korea. The Task Force’s goal was to delay enemy forces by blocking their movement down the road south from Suwon to Taejon, which was a major avenue of advance for the NKPA. That morning, the Task Force was engaged by a column of enemy tanks. The anti-tank weapons that the infantrymen employed were ineffective, and a large number of tanks broke through their position. Task Force Smith was forced to withdraw to the south, suffering heavy casualties in the process. Corporal Eldred Jennings Hensley, who joined the U.S. Army from West Virginia, served with C Company, 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. His unit was part of Task Force Smith, and he was captured by enemy forces on July 5. He was forced to march to a temporary prison camp near Manpo, North Korea. On October 31, Cpl Hensley was among a group of prisoners that began a march to the Apex prison camps on the Yalu River. Several days after leaving Manpo, Cpl Hensley collapsed, unable to continue the march. He was shot by a guard, and the group of prisoners was forced to march on. Corporal Hensley’s remains have not been identified among those returned to U.S. custody. Today, Corporal Hensley is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency