York County Maine

Robert Jules Roberge from York County Biddeford, Maine .

Parents: Claire Tanner and Joseph D. Roberge

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 Robert Jules Roberge, who entered the U.S. Army from Maine, was a member of the Headquarters and Headquarters Services Company, 2nd Engineer Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division. He was captured on November 30, 1950, during his unit’s attempt to fight through a heavily defended enemy roadblock near Kunu-ri, North Korea. He was moved to Death Valley and died there in January 1951. Repatriated prisoners of war reported that he was buried near the camp; however, his remains were not identified among those that have been returned to U.S. custody since the ceasefire. He is still unaccounted-for. Today, Sergeant Roberge is memorialized in the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, Portland Press Herald (1951)