Tag: Queens New York

John Patrick McQuade from Queens, New York, Queen county.

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. Master Sergeant John Patrick McQuade joined the U.S. Army from New York and was a member of Company L of the 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. On November 2, 1950, Company L was near Unsan with the 3rd Battalion when it was hit by an enemy attack and forced to withdraw. In the dark, surrounded, and unable to use roadways, members of Company L retreated through the hills, and it was during this time MSG McQuade was captured. He was marched to a temporary prisoner of war (POW) camp at Sambakkol, arriving in late November 1950. He was then moved to the more permanent POW facility known as Camp 5, arriving in late January 1951, and died there of malnutrition and pneumonia in March or April 1951. He was not identified among the remains returned to U.S. custody after the ceasefire. Today, Master Sergeant McQuade is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency