Tag: Trumann Arkansas

DeWain Douglas, age 19, from Poinsett County Trumann, Arkansas .

Parents: Gladys Douglas

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Wednesday, November 29, 1950
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. Private First Class Dewain Douglas, who joined the U.S. Army from Arkansas, was a member of the Heavy Mortar Company of the 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. On November 29, 1950, the 38th Infantry Regiment defended the area east of Kunu-ri, to cover the start of the 2nd Division’s retreat. The CCF attacked as the 38th Infantry consolidated, forcing the defenders to fight their way back to Kunu-ri before joining the withdrawal to Sunchon. A series of moving battles ensued. PFC Douglas reportedly suffered a hip wound during the breakout from Kunu-ri and was placed on a vehicle that was last seen attempting to run a CCF roadblock; however, he was reported as missing in action following this incident. PFC Douglas was never reported as a prisoner of war, and his remains have not been recovered or identified among those returned to U.S. custody after the war. Today, Private First Class Douglas 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, Associated Press (1954)