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Harvey Thomas Vann from Texas, Robertson county.

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Unknown
Death details: On July 5, 1950, Task Force Smith, the first U.S. ground element to engage North Korean People’s Army (NKPA) troops, was defending a position north of Osan, South Korea. The Task Force’s goal was to delay enemy forces by blocking their movement down the road south from Suwon to Taejon, which was a major avenue of advance for the NKPA. That morning, the Task Force was engaged by a column of enemy tanks. The anti-tank weapons that the infantrymen employed were ineffective, and a large number of tanks broke through their position. Task Force Smith was forced to withdraw to the south, suffering heavy casualties in the process. Master Sergeant Harvey Thomas Vann, who joined the U.S. Army from Texas, served with C Company, 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. His unit was part of Task Force Smith, and he was captured by enemy forces on July 5. He was marched to the Apex prison camps in North Korea, and died of exhaustion and pneumonia at the camp at Hanjang-ni in early January 1951. He was buried on a hillside just above the village; however, his remains were not identified among those returned to U.S. custody after the ceasefire. Today, Master Sergeant Vann is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency