Terral Oklahoma

Tommy Joe Cain from Jefferson County Terral, Oklahoma .

Parents: Nattie E. Cain

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Thursday, August 31, 1950
Death details: In late August of 1950, U.S. forces in Korea were stationed along the Pusan Perimeter, a defensive formation around the town of Pusan with the outer edge along the eastern shore of the Naktong River. On August 31, members of the 1st Battalion of the 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, were stationed on the eastern shore of the Naktong, west of the small town of Yongsan, South Korea. On the night of August 31, a large unit from the North Korean People’s Army (NKPA) advanced over the Naktong and attacked the 1st Battalion’s position under cover of fog. Heavy fighting broke out, and many of the American units there were forced to fall back. Corporal Tommy Joe Cain, who joined the U.S. Army from Oklahoma, was a member of A Company of the 1st battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. His company was among the U.S. forces that came under attack on August 31 and were forced to withdrawal. Corporal Cain was killed at some point during the retreat, though the exact circumstances of his loss are unknown. Searches of the area following the end of hostilities were unable to locate his remains. Today, Corporal Cain 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