Louisiana Louisiana

Ernest Jr., Clarence James
Army Corporal

Clarence James Ernest Jr., age 24, from Louisiana, Pointe Coupee county.

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Thursday, July 9, 1953
Death details: On July 6, 1953, a large Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) unit attacked and overran the U.S. Army outposts on Pork Chop Hill in an attempt to seize whatever territory possible before the impending armistice agreement. After fighting for the position for four days, on July 10, the 7th Infantry Division Commander determined that the CCF disregard for casualties and desire to hold the outpost outweighed the position’s tactical value, and ordered a withdrawal that was eventually completed on July 11. The U.S. never again controlled Pork Chop Hill, preventing thorough recovery efforts for those who were killed or went missing during the fighting. Sergeant Clarence James Ernest Jr. entered the U.S. Army from Louisiana and was a member of Company K, 3rd Battalion, 17th Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was killed in action on July 9 during the fighting at Pork Chop Hill. His remains were not recovered, and he is still unaccounted for. Today, Sergeant Ernest is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Martin, James Edward
Army Corporal

James Edward Martin, age 19, from Louisiana, Vernon county.

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Sunday, December 3, 1950
Death details: On April 27, 2016, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Sergeant James Edward Martin, missing from the Korean War. SGT Martin joined the U.S. Army from Utah and was a member of I Company, 3rd Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. In late November 1950, Chinese Communist Forces launched a large-scale attack against U.S. troops at the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea, forcing them to withdraw south. SGT Martin’s unit was stationed on the eastern side of the reservoir at the outset of the attack, and he was reported missing in action once the withdrawal was complete. SGT Martin was never reported to be a prisoner of war, and he was not seen or heard from again. In September 2001, a joint U.S. and North Korean investigative team recovered remains from a site in the vicinity of the Chosin Reservoir. Forensic analysis eventually revealed some of the recovered remains to be those of SGT Martin. 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

Brown, Lawrence Larry
Army Private 1st class

Lawrence Larry Brown, age 21, from Louisiana, East Baton Rouge county.

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Sunday, November 26, 1950
Death details: Accounted for Feb. 14, 2022. In late 1950, Brown was a member of Company M, 3rd Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He was captured by Chinese People’s Volunteer Forces on Nov. 26, 1950, in the vicinity of Kujang, North Korea, when his unit was attacked. Following the war, returning American prisoners of war reported that Brown died at Prisoner of War Camp #5. His exact date of death could not be confirmed, and was recorded as being March 31, 1951, the last day he could have still been alive based on POW testimonies.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Bradford, Ulysses Henry
Army Captain

Ulysses Henry Bradford from Louisiana, Orleans county.

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Thursday, November 2, 1950
Death details: During the last week of October 1950, Republic of Korea (ROK) Army forces under the control of the U.S. Eighth Army were advancing deep in North Korean territory, approaching the Yalu River on the Chinese-Korean border. Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) struck back in a surprise attack, engaging the ROK 1st and 6th Divisions near Unsan, some sixty miles north of Pyongyang. The U.S. 1st Cavalry Division, with the 8th Cavalry Regiment in the lead, was rushed forward to reinforce the ROK units in the Unsan area. On November 1, the regiment’s 1st Battalion took up positions north of Unsan, while the 2nd Battalion moved to guard the Nammyon River valley west of town, and the 3rd Battalion was placed in reserve at the valley’s southern end. Captain Ulysses H. Bradford, who joined the U.S. Army from Louisiana, served with Headquarters Company of the 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. On November 2, 1950, Headquarters Company was with other 3rd Battalion units forming a defense perimeter near Unsan, North Korea, when it came under sudden and heavy enemy attack. Surrounded and besieged, the units received orders to withdraw but became trapped so took cover inside foxholes or behind bunkers. It was during the chaotic fighting that CPT Bradford was taken prisoner of war and eventually held at POW Camp #5 in Pyoktong, where he died of malnutrition on April 30, 1951. His remains were not recovered at the time, and attempts to locate his remains since the close of war have been unsuccessful. Today, Captain Bradford is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Allen, Chelcia Andrew
Army Private 1st class

Chelcia Andrew Allen, age 19, from Louisiana, Ouachita county.

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Saturday, July 22, 1950
Death details: On July 22, 1950, the 2nd Battalion of the U.S. Army’s 35th Infantry Regiment was holding defensive positions along the south bank of the rain-swollen Yong stream, south of Mun’gyong, South Korea. The battalion’s Company F was sent across the stream to reinforce a Republic of Korea (ROK) battalion on the north bank, but the ROK-U.S. position was immediately attacked by North Korean People’s Army (NKPA) forces, separating them from the rest of the 2nd Battalion and flanking Company F on both sides. Company F fell back to the stream’s edge under enemy fire, but the current was too powerful for them to cross and the enemy had seized the nearby bridge. U.S. combat engineers on the south bank attempted to launch rafts for the stranded men but were also pinned down by the NKPA until additional American tanks and infantry arrived to give them covering fire. This enabled the engineers to deploy their rafts and evacuate the men of Company F from the north bank. However, several soldiers were lost to enemy fire or while attempting to cross the swollen stream before the rafts could be launched. Corporal Chelcia Andrew Allen, who entered the U.S. Army from Louisiana, served with F Company, 2nd Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division. He was reported missing on July 22, 1950, during this action. The exact circumstances of his loss are unknown; he may have been hit by enemy fire, or swept downstream while attempting to cross the Yong. He was never reported as a prisoner of war and has not been associated with any remains later recovered from the area. Today, Corporal Allen is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Mitchell, Rudus T. Jr.
Army Private 1st class

Rudus T. Jr. Mitchell from Louisiana, Orleans 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. Corporal Rudus T. Mitchell Jr. joined the U.S. Army from Louisiana and was a member of Company C, 1st Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. On July 16, 1950, he was captured by enemy forces in the vicinity of Taejon, South Korea, during the Battle of Kum River. CPL Mitchell was marched north to holding camps in North Korea and after leaving a camp in Manpo, he suffered from malnutrition and exposure and was reportedly killed by a guard after becoming too weak to march. Circumstances about any burial were unrecorded, and he remains unaccounted-for following the incident. Today, Corporal Mitchell is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Dean, Alvin Clinton
Army Corporal

Alvin Clinton Dean from Louisiana, Orleans county.

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Wednesday, July 12, 1950
Death details: On July 11, 1950, the U.S. Army’s 21st Infantry Regiment, which had arrived in Korea six days earlier, was placed in defensive positions near the town of Chochiwon, South Korea. The regiment was not at full strength and lacked artillery and anti-tank weapons. That day, they were attacked by North Korean forces and were forced to withdraw to avoid being surrounded, as well as to buy time until they could be reinforced and resupplied. Corporal Alvin Clinton Dean, who joined the U.S. Army from Louisiana, served with I Company, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was captured by enemy forces on July 12, near Chochiwon and forced to march to the Apex prison camps in North Korea. He died of malnutrition sometime during the spring or summer of 1951 at the camp near An-dong and was buried in the camp cemetery. His remains were not identified among those returned to U.S. custody after the ceasefire. Today, Corporal Dean is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Butler, William P.
Army Technician 4

William P. Butler from Louisiana, Morehouse county.

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Sunday, December 27, 1942
Death details: Following the Allied surrender on the Bataan Peninsula on April 9, 1942, the Japanese began the forcible transfer of American and Filipino prisoners of war to various prison camps in central Luzon, at the northern end of the Philippines. The largest of these camps was the notorious Cabanatuan Prison Camp. At its peak, Cabanatuan held approximately 8,000 American and Filipino prisoners of war that were captured during and after the Fall of Bataan. Camp overcrowding worsened with the arrival of Allied prisoners who had surrendered from Corregidor on May 6, 1942. Conditions at the camp were poor, with food and water extremely limited, leading to widespread malnutrition and outbreaks of malaria and dysentery. By the time the camp was liberated in early 1945, approximately 2,800 Americans had died at Cabanatuan. Prisoners were forced to bury the dead in makeshift communal graves, often completed without records or markers. As a result, identifying and recovering remains interred at Cabanatuan was difficult in the years after the war. Technician Fourth Grade William P. Butler entered the U.S. Army Air Forces from Louisiana and served with the 20th Air Base Group in the Philippines during World War II. He was captured in Bataan following the American surrender and died of dysentery and pellagra on December 27, 1942, at the Cabnatuan Prison Camp in Nueva Ecija Province. He was buried in a communal grave in the camp cemetery along with another deceased American POWs; however, his remains could not be associated with any remains recovered from Cabanatuan after the war. Today, Technician Fourth Grade Butler is memorialized on the Walls of the Missing at the Manila American Cemetery in the Philippines.
Cemetery: Manila American Cemetery

Source: National Archives, American Battle Monuments Commission, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Klopp, John H.
Army Private

John H. Klopp from Louisiana, Orleans county.

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Saturday, December 5, 1942
Death details: On August 21, 2015, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Private John H. Klopp, missing from World War II. Private Klopp, who entered the U.S. Army in Louisiana, was a member of the 126th Infantry Regiment, 32nd Infantry Division. He was killed in action on December 5, 1942, during the 126th Infantry’s engagement with Japanese forces at a position known as Huggins Roadblock in Papua (present-day Papua New Guinea.) He was buried with another service member near the roadblock, but his remains were not recovered following the war. In 2011, an Australian citizen discovered partial human remains near Huggins Roadblock. In 2012, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Agency (JPAC, now DPAA), excavated the site and recovered human remains that were later identified as those of Private Klopp.

Source: National Archives, 35th Infantry Regiment Association, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Keating, Earl J.
Army Private

Earl J. Keating from Louisiana, Orleans county.

Service era: World War II

Date of death: Saturday, December 5, 1942
Death details: On August 21, 2015, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Private Earl J. Keating, missing from World War II. Private Keating, who entered the U.S. Army in Louisiana, was a member of the 126th Infantry Regiment, 32nd Infantry Division. He was killed in action on December 5, 1942, during the 126th Infantry’s engagement with Japanese forces at a position known as Huggins Roadblock in Papua (present-day Papua New Guinea.) He was buried with another service member near the roadblock. In 2011, an Australian citizen discovered partial human remains near Huggins Roadblock. In 2012, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Agency (JPAC, now DPAA) excavated the site and recovered human remains, which were later identified as those of Private Keating.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

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