George William Peterburs, age 35, from Racine, Wisconsin, Milwaukee 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. Captain George William Peterburs joined the U.S. Army from Wisconsin and served with Headquarters Company of the 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. On November 2, 1950, members of Headquarters Company were occupying the 3rd Battalion Command Post near Unsan, when the Regiment came under heavy attacks and received orders to withdraw. It was during this withdrawal that CPT Peterburs went missing. Following the close of the war, several returning prisoners of war reported that they witnessed CPT Peterburs die on November 2. No burial information was recorded; he was never reported as a POW, and his remains have not been identified among those returned to U.S. custody after the ceasefire. Today, Captain Peterburs is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Chicago Tribune 1950)
