Melrose Minnesota

Sylvester Arthur Braun from Stearns County Melrose, Minnesota .

Parents: Peter F. Braun

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Unknown
Death details: In early February 1951, the United States, Republic of Korea (ROK), and United Nations forces moved out from Wonju, South Korea, and launched a large-scale counteroffensive against invading Chinese Communist Forces (CCF). Company L of the 3rd Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, took part in the action, establishing a position on the west side of Wonju and advancing through the hilly terrain amid light resistance from the CCF. However, on February 11, the CCF launched its own major counteroffensive against the advancing U.S. forces. Company L held their ground initially, but soon the CCF’s superior numbers forced the unit to withdraw back through Wonju. Corporal Sylvester Arthur Braun, who joined the U.S. Army from Minnesota, was a member of L Company of the 3rd Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He was captured by the CCF during the fighting on February 11. Corporal Braun and other prisoners marched north to the Suan Bean holding camp in Suan, North Korea, arriving in March 1951. The corporal’s group was evacuated from Suan in April; however, he was among those too sick to travel and was moved to the nearby Suan Mining Camp’s field hospital where he was thought to have died of malnutrition late May 1951. His remains have not been recovered because U.S. personnel are unable to conduct searches at the Suan camps. Additionally, he could not be associated with any remains returned to U.S. custody since the ceasefire. Today, Corporal Braun 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 (1954)