Kennith Gwestell Fields, age 19, from Seminole County Georgia.
Service era: Korea
Date of death: Saturday, July 8, 1950
Death details: In early July 1950, the U.S. Army’s 34th Infantry Regiment was occupying defensive positions just above the village of P’yongt’aek, South Korea, when it came under attack by the North Korean People’s Army (NKPA) 4th Division. The 34th Infantry had previously been on garrison duty in Japan and were not yet back up to combat strength. The NKPA attack was led by tanks; vastly outnumbered and lacking effective anti-tank weapons, the 34th Infantry was completely overwhelmed. They were forced to move south to Ch’onan where hasty defensive positions were established along two roads leading further south. However, the NKPA continued its relentless attack and again pushed the 34th Infantry out of their fighting positions, driving them down the Osan-Ch’onan road. After another brief but sharp battle on the morning of July 8, the Americans began a general withdrawal south to the Kum River Line, where U.S. forces would organize a defense in the hope of keeping the NKPA from reaching Taejon. During this series of fighting withdrawals, many U.S. soldiers were killed or captured by the enemy. Corporal Kennith Gwestell Fields entered the U.S. Army from Georgia and was a member of L Company, 3rd Battalion, 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was killed in action during the fighting withdrawal, and his body was not recovered from the battlefield at the time of his loss. His remains were not identified among those returned to the U.S. following the ceasefire, and he is still unaccounted for. Today, Corporal Fields 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
