Bernard A. Demski from Rome, New York, Oneida county.
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Monday, June 22, 1953
Death details:
During April 1953, the 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, manned defensive positions along the Marine-held “Jamestown Line” which was on the western side of the Main Line of Resistance. Daily patrols moved forward of the line to test enemy defenses and discourage enemy incursions into friendly territory. On April 10, a patrol of 21 Marines from Company E, 2nd Battalion, was ambushed by 50 Chinese soldiers, who had hidden themselves in a trench. A long, drawn-out firefight ensued as the Chinese troops pursued the withdrawing Marines all the way back to friendly territory.
Private First Class Bernard Andrew Demski, who joined the U.S. Marine Corps from New York, served with Company E, 2nd Battalion, 1st Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division. He was wounded and captured during the April 10 patrol. He was imprisoned in a camp in North Korea, where he underwent an operation to remove shrapnel from his spine, and died shortly thereafter. Specifics pertaining to his burial are unknown, and his remains were not identified among those returned to U.S. custody after the ceasefire. Today, Private First Class Demski is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.
Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
