Newton Texas

Roy Vizuete, age 37, from Jefferson County Newton, Texas .

Parents: Marie Vizuete

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Unknown
Death details: By July 1950, the North Korean People’s Army (NKPA) had taken control of Taejon, and the U.S. Eighth Army’s 25th Infantry Division and 1st Cavalry Division were sent into action. The 1st Cavalry Division deployed at Pohang between July 18-21 and immediately advanced west on the Taegu-Taejon road to establish blocking positions at Yongdong and defend the city. The ensuing three-day Battle of Yongdong was intense, and the 1st Cavalry Division was ultimately forced to withdraw on July 25 after the 5th Cavalry Regiment alone had lost 275 men. The battle inflicted heavy casualties on the NKPA and delayed its advance enough to allow United Nations (UN) forces to establish the Pusan Perimeter, but the NKPA still managed to capture many American prisoners of war (POWs). Prisoners were marched north to Seoul before being transferred to camps in Pyongyang. Many POWs were eventually rescued, though many others died from exhaustion and mistreatment. Poor record keeping by the NKPA and strained diplomatic tensions following the war have complicated the identification and recovery of those who went missing during the Battle of Yongdong, and many are still unaccounted for. Master Sergeant Roy Vizuete entered the U.S. Army from Texas and served in B Company of the 1st Battalion, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. He was captured by the NKPA during the Battle of Yongdong, as B Company fought delaying actions in the southern part of Yongdong. While MSG Vizuete’s name does not appear on any official or unofficial POW rosters, several surviving POWs reported seeing him in captivity. One of these survivors reported that MSG Vizuete died while the NKPA moved the American POWs to Manpo sometime after October 20, 1950. After the armistice, American recovery personnel were not allowed far enough north to reach Manpo, and MSG Vizuete’s remains have not been recovered. Today, Master Sergeant Vizuete 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, Houston Chronicle (1955)