Tag: State of Washington

Edward James Filarecki, age 34, from Pierce County Tacoma, Washington .

Spouse: Married

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Unknown
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 Edward James Filarecki, who joined the U.S. Army from New York, was a member of the Headquarters and Service Company, 2nd Engineer Combat Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division. He was captured by the enemy on November 30, as his unit was falling back through Kunu-ri. He died of malnutrition in December of 1950 at a temporary holding camp in North Korea, as he was being marched to permanent camps in Pyoktong. His remains have not been recovered, and he was not identified among remains returned to U.S. custody after the war. Today, Sergeant Filarecki is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, The Olympian (1952)