
Buford Larkin Dale from Columbia, Mississippi, Marion county.
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Saturday, December 2, 1950
Death details: On the evening of November 27, 1950, a huge Chinese force launched an attack against the U.S. and United Nations (UN) troops stationed in the Chosin Reservoir area in north-east North Korea. The resulting seventeen-day conflict became known as the Battle of Chosin Reservoir. After a fierce defense, U.S. and UN forces attempted to withdraw south from the Chosin Reservoir to the port of Hungnam. A single seventy-eight-mile roadway connecting the reservoir to Hungnam offered the only retreat route, and the withdrawing men faced significant enemy resistance as they traveled down it, attempting to avoid encirclement. After suffering heavy casualties, the U.S. and UN troops eventually broke through Chinese lines and reached Hungnam. Staff Sergeant Buford Larkin Dale, who joined the U.S. Marine Corps from Mississippi, served with the Headquarters & Services Company, 5th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division. He was killed in action during the Battle of Chosin Reservoir on December 2, 1950, as his unit attempted to dislodge the CCF from Hill 1542, which overlooked the roadway between Yudam-ni and Hagaru-ri. He was carried down the hill and buried along the roadside where he was given a field burial; however, his remains could not be recovered or identified following the war. Today, Staff Sergeant Dale is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency