William Edward Caution from Sharpsville, Pennsylvania, Mercer county.
Parents: Margaret Caution
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. Sergeant First Class William Edward Caution, who joined the U.S. Army from Pennsylvania, was a member of Company M, 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. On November 2, 1950, Company M was providing security for the 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment Command Post near Unsan when it was hit by an mortar and infantry attack. Units at the Command Post faced continued attacks for two more days, and at some point during the actionSFC Caution was captured. After the war, two surviving prisoners reported they had been with SFC Caution at Prison Camp 5 in Pyoktong, and that he died of yellow jaundice while still at the camp. His remains were not identified among those returned to the U.S. following the armistice, and he remains unaccounted for. Today, Sergeant First Class Caution is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Pittsburgh Post Gazette (1950)
