Tag: Virginia Virginia

Posted on

Christian, Stuart Brooks
Army Private

Stuart Brooks Christian from Virginia, Henrico county.

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Wednesday, March 21, 1951
Death details: On July 11, 1950, the U.S. Army’s 21st Infantry Regiment, which had arrived in Korea six days earlier, was placed in defensive positions near the town of Chochiwon, South Korea. The regiment was not at full strength and lacked artillery and anti-tank weapons. That day, they were attacked by North Korean forces and were forced to withdraw to avoid being surrounded, as well as to buy time until they could be reinforced and resupplied. Private First Class Stuart Brooks Christian, who joined the U.S. Army from Virginia, served with M Company, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was captured by enemy forces on July 12, near Chochiwon and forced to march north to a prison camp at Hanjang-ni, North Korea. He died there on March 21, 1951, of malnutrition and pneumonia, and was buried by his fellow prisoners near the camp. However, after the war, his remains were not identified among those returned to U.S. custody. Today, Private First Class Christian is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Posted on

Counts, Billy Elwond
Army Private 1st class

Billy Elwond Counts from Virginia, Dickenson county.

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Thursday, November 30, 1950
Death details: On November 29, 1950, men from Company G of the U.S. 1st Marine Regiment, MP Company and Tank Company, 1st Marine Division, Company B and elements of Company D of the 31st Infantry Regiment, Headquarters Company of the X Corps, and Royal Marines from Number 41 Independent Commando Battalion were sent north from Koto-ri to open the main supply route to Hagaru-ri and resupply and reinforce Allied troops that had been surrounded near the Chosin Reservoir. The group, known as Task Force Drysdale, set out with tanks and other vehicles in the lead and rear, and initially only met light resistance from Chinese Communist Forces (CCF). As attacks increased in ferocity, the group became fragmented as the CCF managed to establish road blocks that further split the task force. Soon, the CCF blew a bridge and halted the convoy altogether. The Royal Marines and most of Company G were north of the bridge at this time and were able to continue to Hagaru-ri. Near the south end of the convoy, a destroyed truck blocked the road. The tanks and troops south of the destroyed truck fought as long as possible before ultimately returning to Koto-ri on November 30. The men between the blown bridge and the destroyed truck, however, were trapped, and subjected to several mortar barrages before CCF moved into hand-to-hand combat range. Fighting raged there until the morning of November 30, when the survivors were forced to surrender. Over 300 troops were wounded, captured, or died during the action. Corporal Billy Elwond Counts entered the U.S. Army from Virginia and served in Headquarters Company, X Corps. He went missing during Task Force Drysdale’s drive from Koto-ri to Hagaru-ri, though specific details regarding his loss are unknown. No one saw him fall, and he was never reported as a prisoner of war. Attempts to locate or recover his remains have been unsuccessful. Today, Corporal Counts is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Posted on

Viars, James Earnest
Army Private 1st class

James Earnest Viars from Virginia, Wythe county.

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Monday, November 27, 1950
Death details: On July 11, 1950, the U.S. Army’s 21st Infantry Regiment, which had arrived in Korea six days earlier, was placed in defensive positions near the town of Chochiwon, South Korea. The regiment was not at full strength and lacked artillery and anti-tank weapons. That day, they were attacked by North Korean forces and were forced to withdraw to avoid being surrounded, as well as to buy time until they could be reinforced and resupplied. Corporal James Earnest Viars, who joined the U.S. Army from Virginia, served with I Company, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was captured by enemy forces north of Chochiwon on July 12, and forced to march to the Apex prison camps in North Korea. He died of exhaustion and pneumonia on November 27 at the camp at Hanjang-ni, and was buried near the camp. His remains were not identified among those returned to U.S. custody after the ceasefire, and he is still unaccounted for. Today, Corporal Viars is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Posted on

Price, James Earven
Army Private

James Earven Price, age 23, from Virginia, Montgomery county.

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. Private First Class James Earven Price, who joined the U.S. Army from Virginia, was a member of Company I, 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. By midnight on November 1, 1950, the 8th Cavalry Regiment was forced to withdraw from the Unsan area to avoid encirclement by the enemy. The 3rd Battalion was the last to withdraw, and was surrounded and cut off by the CCF. They formed a defensive perimeter, and withstood attacks for the next few days before survivors either broke out to avoid capture or surrendered. Private First Class Price went missing in action during this battle. He was never reported as a prisoner of war, and he remains unaccounted for. Today, Private First Class Price is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Posted on

Caldwell, James Charles
Army Sergeant

James Charles Caldwell, age 31, from Virginia, Arlington county.

Spouse: Helen Caldwell
Children: Children

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Thursday, November 2, 1950
Death details: On December 16, 2010, the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC, now DPAA) identified the remains of Sergeant First Class James Charles Caldwell, missing from the Korean War. Sergeant First Class Caldwell entered the U.S. Army from Virginia and was a member of Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. He was killed in action while fighting the enemy along the Nammyon River near Unsan, North Korea, on November 2, 1950, and his body was not recovered at the time. Between 1991 and 1994, the North Korea government repatriated remains of U.S. service members that were exhumed in North Pyongan Province from an area correlating to SFC Caldwell’s loss; in 1993, U.S. analysts used modern forensic techniques to identify SFC Caldwell among the remains recovered.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Associated Press (1950)

Posted on

Short, Marvin Eugene
Army Private 1st class

Marvin Eugene Short, age 26, from Virginia, Roanoke county.

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Sunday, September 3, 1950
Death details: On September 3, 1950, the 8th Cavalry Regiment and the 2nd Engineer Battalion, both elements of the 1st Cavalry Division, were holding a defensive line between Tabu-dong and Taegu at the upper end of the Naktong Perimeter. Company F of the 8th Cavalry, defending Hill 448, was attacked by elements of North Korea’s 13th Infantry Division and forced to retreat to Hill 449, defended by Company G of the 8th Cavalry. The 8th Cavalry Regiment found itself cut off from its supply train and withdrew from the area to keep from being surrounded by the enemy. Upon reaching the village of Tabu-dong, members of Companies D and E of the 8th Cavalry became involved in hut-to-hut fighting before they could retreat. Meanwhile, elements of the 2nd Engineer Battalion, which had been ordered to take and hold Hill 755, were also forced to withdraw. United States forces did not re-take this territory until September 21, 1950. Private First Class Marvin Eugene Short, who joined the U.S. Army from Virginia, served with F Company, 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. He was reported killed in action on September 3, northeast of Tabu-dong, as his unit withdrew from Hill 448 during a concentrated attack by the 13th Division of the North Korean People’s Army (NKPA). When U.S. forces re-took the area on September 21, an unsuccessful search was conducted for PFC Short’s remains. His remains have not been recovered to date. Today, Private First Class Short is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Posted on

Stevenson, Robert Edward
Army Private 1st class

Robert Edward Stevenson from Virginia, Tazewell county.

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Sunday, July 16, 1950
Death details: On the evening of July 15, 1950, the U.S. Army’s 19th Infantry Regiment held defensive positions along the south bank of the Kum River. As dusk approached, North Korean People’s Army (NKPA) tanks appeared on the opposite shore and began firing on the U.S. positions. Although U.S. troops repulsed the attacks that evening, the next morning the NKPA crossed the river and launched a major attack against the 19th Regiment. As the regiment began withdrawing south to Taejon, the North Koreans pushed deep into their defensive lines and set up a roadblock en route to Taejon. When retreating American convoys could not break through the roadblock, soldiers were forced to leave the road and attempt to make their way in small groups across the countryside. Of the 900 soldiers in the 19th Infantry when the Battle of Kum River started, only 434 made it to friendly lines. Private First Class Robert Edward Stevenson entered the U.S. Army from Virginia and served with Company G, 2nd Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He went missing in action on July 16 during the Battle of Kum River, following his unit’s attempt to withdraw around an enemy roadblock outside Taejon. Private First Class Stevenson was never reported as a prisoner of war, and his remains were not recovered or identified following the conflict. Today, Private First Class Stevenson is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Posted on

Pillow, Wade Maxwell
Army Private 1st class

Wade Maxwell Pillow from Virginia, Charlotte county.

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Sunday, July 16, 1950
Death details: On the evening of July 15, 1950, the U.S. Army’s 19th Infantry Regiment held defensive positions along the south bank of the Kum River. As dusk approached, North Korean People’s Army (NKPA) tanks appeared on the opposite shore and began firing on the U.S. positions. Although U.S. troops repulsed the attacks that evening, the next morning the NKPA crossed the river and launched a major attack against the 19th Regiment. As the regiment began withdrawing south to Taejon, the North Koreans pushed deep into their defensive lines and set up a roadblock en route to Taejon. When retreating American convoys could not break through the roadblock, soldiers were forced to leave the road and attempt to make their way in small groups across the countryside. Of the 900 soldiers in the 19th Infantry when the Battle of Kum River started, only 434 made it to friendly lines. Corporal Wade Maxwell Pillow entered the U.S. Army from Virginia and served with Company C, 1st Battalion, 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was captured on July 16, during the Battle of Kum River, while attempting to withdraw through an enemy roadblock outside Taejon. After his capture, he was marched to various holding camps in North Korea but became weakened along the way. While en route between Man’po and the Hanjang-ni, CPL Pillow was shot and died on or around November 6. His burial location is unrecorded, and his remains were not identified among those returned to U.S. custody after the war. Today, Corporal Pillow is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency

Posted on

Harris, Aubrey C.
Corporal

Aubrey C. Harris, age 46, from Virginia.

Service era: Post World War II

Date of death: Thursday, July 31, 1947
Death details: Died in a traffic accident when the driver of the truck he was in failed to stop at a stop sign in Florida
Cemetery: Hillcrest in Louisa, Virginia

Source: findagrave.com, Tampa Times (1947)