Springfield Tennessee

Henson, Alfred Jr.
Army Corporal

Alfred Jr. Henson, age 20, from Robertson County Springfield, Tennessee .

Parents: Jessie S. Martin

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Wednesday, January 31, 1951
Death details: By mid-November 1950, U.S. and Allied forces had advanced to within approximately sixty miles of the Yalu River, the border between North Korea and China. On November 25, approximately 300,000 Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) “volunteers” suddenly and fiercely counterattacked after crossing the Yalu. The 2nd Infantry Division, located the farthest north of units at the Chongchon River, could not halt the CCF advance and was ordered to withdraw to defensive positions at Sunchon in the South Pyongan province of North Korea. As the division pulled back from Kunu-ri toward Sunchon, it conducted an intense rearguard action while fighting to break through well-defended roadblocks set up by CCF infiltrators. The withdrawal was not complete until December 1, and the 2nd Infantry Division suffered extremely heavy casualties in the process. Sergeant Alfred Henson Jr., who joined the U.S. Army from Tennessee, served with Headquarters Battery, 38th Field Artillery Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division. He was captured by enemy forces on November 30, 1950, as his unit made a fighting withdrawal from Kunu-ri south to Sunchon. He was marched as a prisoner of war to POW Camp 5 at Pyoktong, North Korea, where he died of pneumonia on January 31, 1951. His remains have not been identified among those returned to U.S. custody after the war. In 1954, the Chinese suggested that a set of remains returned during Operation Glory were those of SGT Henson, though the U.S. Army Central Identification Unit determined they were those of another soldier. Today, Sergeant Henson 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, Nashville Banner (1952)

Traughber, Jesse Joseph
Army Private 1st class

Jesse Joseph Traughber, age 20, from Springfield, Tennessee, Robertson county.

Parents: Neil Traughber

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. Corporal Jesse Joseph Traughber joined the U.S. Army from Tennessee and was a member of Company I of the 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. On November 2, 1950, members of Company I were in defensive positions with the 3rd Battalion near Unsan when they received orders to withdraw. The 3rd Battalion was the last unit in the withdrawal sequence and experienced heavy and constant attacks by the CCF. Corporal Traughber was reported missing during the withdrawal’s rear-guard action. One of the survivors mentioned he had been killed in the I Company perimeter, though that information was never verified. He was not reported as a prisoner of war nor has he been identified among remains returned to U.S. custody after the ceasefire. Today, Corporal Traughber is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Nashville Banner (1954)

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