2RHPZ
07-06-2004, 03:18 AM
Last to die: final KIAs of the Korean War: the following American servicemen
have the dubious distinction of being the last killed as a result of hostile
action in Korea on or near July 27, 1953. They deserve to be remembered on this
50th anniversary of the war's end - Korean War
It is every warrior's nightmare. Knowing a war's end is near and he could be the
last to lose his life in a conflict that is virtually over. But someone has to
be that unlucky person, and the Korean War was no exception.
On the war's last day, July 27, 1953, 30 Americans died in Korea--25 from combat
action and five accidentally.
The men hailed from a variety of Army units. The 2nd, 3rd, 7th, 40th and 45th
divisions, as well as the 5th and 187th regiments all lost men in the last 24
hours. Both the 3rd and 45th divisions suffered at least seven killed. Each one
of their regiments counted casualties.
To honor all their memories, here are brief profiles of the men of each service
who made the ultimate sacrifice in the war's final hours. Until now, they have
never been publicly recognized. VFW magazine is privileged to do so. (If you
have additional information on these men, please forward it to the magazine.)
Harold Smith: Marine
Pfc. Harold B. Smith of B Co., 1st Bn., 7th Marines, 1st Marine Div., took his
last breath aboard the hospital ship Haven, then anchored in Inchon Harbor, at 9:05
a.m. on July 28. The day before--just 16 minutes prior to the cease-fire taking
effect at 10 p.m.--Smith had tripped a land mine.
Coming in from patrol on the western front somewhere between the main line of
resistance and Outpost Berlin, he stepped on the deadly device, which sent
shrapnel to his head and chest. "I was preparing to fire a white star cluster to
signal the armistice when his body was brought in," recalled Oma Day. "He was
transported by helicopter through the C Company aid station."
The Oregon, Ill., native was 21 years old. Smith had just arrived in Korea that
May, after a yearlong tour of duty in the Philippines.
Another Marine, Pfc. Willie Hamilton of Starkville, Miss., had been killed
instantly on the battlefield at 1 p.m. on July 26, the day before the armistice.
He was a member of G Co., 3rd Bn., 1st Marines, 1st Marine Div.
Smith's wounding at 9:44 p.m. on July 27 and subsequent death made him the last
hostile American fatality of the Korean War. (Previously, it was believed to be
Harold Cross.)
Harold Cross: Soldier
Sgt. 1st Class Harold R. Cross, Jr., of the 1st Pit., K Co., 3rd Bn., 5th
Regimental Combat Team, was mortally wounded in combat on "Christmas Hill" (Hill
1040) on July 27 at 8:40 p.m., only 80 minutes before the cease-fire took effect.
"Cross was sitting in the door of the platoon command post bunker reporting
incoming rounds when a heavy Chinese artillery shell hit a 16-inch beam above
him, blasting him deep into the bunker," former platoon Sgt. John C. McCrimmon
wrote. "Cross suffered horrible wounds, but never complained because of shock.
"As he was being carried away on a stretcher, he asked, 'Am I going to make it.'
From the battalion aid station he was taken by ambulance to the clearing station
hospital where he later died."
Fellow company member Ken Witmer remembered he "was only 75 yards from Cross
when he was hit in that bunker. His funeral back home in Michigan paid him great
honor." Indeed, his hometown of Detroit (Cross was born in Wayne) honored him in
style. Cross' body lay in state in the lobby of Detroit's VA Memorial Building
prior to being buried in the National Memorial Garden of Renown.
John Rhoads: Air Force Pilot
Capt. John K. Rhoads was piloting an RF-80A Lockheed Shooting Star photo-
reconnaissance
aircraft of the 45th Tactical Recon Squadron, 67th Tactical Recon Wing on July
27. Suddenly, near Taechon Air Base, Communist anti-aircraft fire hit the plane,
destroying its tail section. The aircraft quickly burst into flames and crashed.
"His mission was to fly to the Yalu to shoot some oblique photos of any military
buildup north of the river," remembered unit member E. DeWayne Hayes. "After
being hit, he tried to get his plane to the sea to save the photos, but it
exploded."
Born in San Francisco, Rhoads was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and
Distinguished Flying Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster for his valor.
Though 16 Air Force crewmembers of an RB-50 were killed in action at 6:15 a.m.
on July 29 when Russian-piloted MiG-15s shot down their plane over Vladivostok,
this loss more properly belongs in the Cold War casualty column.
Navy: Aviator, Corpsman and Sailor
Naming the last member of the Navy killed in action in Korea is a bit more
complicated because personnel served at sea, on land and in the air.
Consequently, several profiles are offered here.
Lt. William C. Blackford, Jr., was a pilot of an F4U-4 Corsair fighter with
Fighter Squadron 152 stationed aboard the USS Princeton. On July 26, Blackford
was flying a recon mission over Communist territory when anti-aircraft fire
brought down his plane.
A recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross, he called Eureka, Calif., home
where the recalled Reservist taught school. Blackford had been assigned to the
same carrier in 1946.
Also on July 26, Ensign Edwin N. Broyles, Jr., was KIA while piloting an F2H-2
Banshee fighter with Fighter Squadron 22 based aboard the USS Lake Champlain. He
was over Hoeryong Air Field, North Korea, when reported MIA. The Navy reservist
and Yale graduate hailed from Baltimore.
During the Korean War, 108 Navy corpsmen were killed in action while serving
with Marines on the ground. Among the last was Hospitalman Billy Doyle Smith,
killed in action on July 18, 1953. Born in St. Joseph, Mo., Smith was 20 when he
died.
The next day, Hospitalman Deane W. Noringseth of Sparta, Wis., was originally
listed as MIA but quickly confirmed KIA. He had volunteered for duty on Outpost
East Berlin--making him the only corpsman for his unit--after the Marines
sustained extremely heavy casualties there.
Though North Korean shore batteries hit 18 U.S. Navy ships causing 89 casualties
after October 1952, (the USS Irwin counted five wounded as late as July 8, 1953),
none seem to have had any KIA.
The USS Lewis, however, lost seven men to enemy shore fire Oct. 21, 1952. Some
81 shells straddled the destroyer escort while it was protecting South Korean
minesweepers in Wonsan Harbor.
Two 75mm shells hit the ship, the first piercing a boiler in the forward fire
room. Six men--Richard Brower, James Crossman, Raymond Remers, George Schofield,
David Schmidt and Floyd Sneed--were killed immediately.
A seventh sailor from Marion, Ore., Boiler Tech. 3rd Class Arnold W. Karlin,
died of burns at 12:42 a.m. "The men were scalded to death by high pressure
steam from the unexploded shell, which hit the main steam line and then the
boiler," remembered shipmate Ken Mathews.
For the families of all the last to die, the war in Korea has especially
poignant memories. Fifty years later, they must contend with the notion that
their loved ones perished in a war largely forsaken by the American public.
Nonetheless, all of these servicemen--like the other 36,568 Americans who gave
their lives so South Korea could be free--did not die in vain. That nation today
remains a bulwark of representative government and free enterprise in East Asia.
For this alone, all Korean War vets have a right to be proud.
have the dubious distinction of being the last killed as a result of hostile
action in Korea on or near July 27, 1953. They deserve to be remembered on this
50th anniversary of the war's end - Korean War
It is every warrior's nightmare. Knowing a war's end is near and he could be the
last to lose his life in a conflict that is virtually over. But someone has to
be that unlucky person, and the Korean War was no exception.
On the war's last day, July 27, 1953, 30 Americans died in Korea--25 from combat
action and five accidentally.
The men hailed from a variety of Army units. The 2nd, 3rd, 7th, 40th and 45th
divisions, as well as the 5th and 187th regiments all lost men in the last 24
hours. Both the 3rd and 45th divisions suffered at least seven killed. Each one
of their regiments counted casualties.
To honor all their memories, here are brief profiles of the men of each service
who made the ultimate sacrifice in the war's final hours. Until now, they have
never been publicly recognized. VFW magazine is privileged to do so. (If you
have additional information on these men, please forward it to the magazine.)
Harold Smith: Marine
Pfc. Harold B. Smith of B Co., 1st Bn., 7th Marines, 1st Marine Div., took his
last breath aboard the hospital ship Haven, then anchored in Inchon Harbor, at 9:05
a.m. on July 28. The day before--just 16 minutes prior to the cease-fire taking
effect at 10 p.m.--Smith had tripped a land mine.
Coming in from patrol on the western front somewhere between the main line of
resistance and Outpost Berlin, he stepped on the deadly device, which sent
shrapnel to his head and chest. "I was preparing to fire a white star cluster to
signal the armistice when his body was brought in," recalled Oma Day. "He was
transported by helicopter through the C Company aid station."
The Oregon, Ill., native was 21 years old. Smith had just arrived in Korea that
May, after a yearlong tour of duty in the Philippines.
Another Marine, Pfc. Willie Hamilton of Starkville, Miss., had been killed
instantly on the battlefield at 1 p.m. on July 26, the day before the armistice.
He was a member of G Co., 3rd Bn., 1st Marines, 1st Marine Div.
Smith's wounding at 9:44 p.m. on July 27 and subsequent death made him the last
hostile American fatality of the Korean War. (Previously, it was believed to be
Harold Cross.)
Harold Cross: Soldier
Sgt. 1st Class Harold R. Cross, Jr., of the 1st Pit., K Co., 3rd Bn., 5th
Regimental Combat Team, was mortally wounded in combat on "Christmas Hill" (Hill
1040) on July 27 at 8:40 p.m., only 80 minutes before the cease-fire took effect.
"Cross was sitting in the door of the platoon command post bunker reporting
incoming rounds when a heavy Chinese artillery shell hit a 16-inch beam above
him, blasting him deep into the bunker," former platoon Sgt. John C. McCrimmon
wrote. "Cross suffered horrible wounds, but never complained because of shock.
"As he was being carried away on a stretcher, he asked, 'Am I going to make it.'
From the battalion aid station he was taken by ambulance to the clearing station
hospital where he later died."
Fellow company member Ken Witmer remembered he "was only 75 yards from Cross
when he was hit in that bunker. His funeral back home in Michigan paid him great
honor." Indeed, his hometown of Detroit (Cross was born in Wayne) honored him in
style. Cross' body lay in state in the lobby of Detroit's VA Memorial Building
prior to being buried in the National Memorial Garden of Renown.
John Rhoads: Air Force Pilot
Capt. John K. Rhoads was piloting an RF-80A Lockheed Shooting Star photo-
reconnaissance
aircraft of the 45th Tactical Recon Squadron, 67th Tactical Recon Wing on July
27. Suddenly, near Taechon Air Base, Communist anti-aircraft fire hit the plane,
destroying its tail section. The aircraft quickly burst into flames and crashed.
"His mission was to fly to the Yalu to shoot some oblique photos of any military
buildup north of the river," remembered unit member E. DeWayne Hayes. "After
being hit, he tried to get his plane to the sea to save the photos, but it
exploded."
Born in San Francisco, Rhoads was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross and
Distinguished Flying Cross with Oak Leaf Cluster for his valor.
Though 16 Air Force crewmembers of an RB-50 were killed in action at 6:15 a.m.
on July 29 when Russian-piloted MiG-15s shot down their plane over Vladivostok,
this loss more properly belongs in the Cold War casualty column.
Navy: Aviator, Corpsman and Sailor
Naming the last member of the Navy killed in action in Korea is a bit more
complicated because personnel served at sea, on land and in the air.
Consequently, several profiles are offered here.
Lt. William C. Blackford, Jr., was a pilot of an F4U-4 Corsair fighter with
Fighter Squadron 152 stationed aboard the USS Princeton. On July 26, Blackford
was flying a recon mission over Communist territory when anti-aircraft fire
brought down his plane.
A recipient of the Distinguished Flying Cross, he called Eureka, Calif., home
where the recalled Reservist taught school. Blackford had been assigned to the
same carrier in 1946.
Also on July 26, Ensign Edwin N. Broyles, Jr., was KIA while piloting an F2H-2
Banshee fighter with Fighter Squadron 22 based aboard the USS Lake Champlain. He
was over Hoeryong Air Field, North Korea, when reported MIA. The Navy reservist
and Yale graduate hailed from Baltimore.
During the Korean War, 108 Navy corpsmen were killed in action while serving
with Marines on the ground. Among the last was Hospitalman Billy Doyle Smith,
killed in action on July 18, 1953. Born in St. Joseph, Mo., Smith was 20 when he
died.
The next day, Hospitalman Deane W. Noringseth of Sparta, Wis., was originally
listed as MIA but quickly confirmed KIA. He had volunteered for duty on Outpost
East Berlin--making him the only corpsman for his unit--after the Marines
sustained extremely heavy casualties there.
Though North Korean shore batteries hit 18 U.S. Navy ships causing 89 casualties
after October 1952, (the USS Irwin counted five wounded as late as July 8, 1953),
none seem to have had any KIA.
The USS Lewis, however, lost seven men to enemy shore fire Oct. 21, 1952. Some
81 shells straddled the destroyer escort while it was protecting South Korean
minesweepers in Wonsan Harbor.
Two 75mm shells hit the ship, the first piercing a boiler in the forward fire
room. Six men--Richard Brower, James Crossman, Raymond Remers, George Schofield,
David Schmidt and Floyd Sneed--were killed immediately.
A seventh sailor from Marion, Ore., Boiler Tech. 3rd Class Arnold W. Karlin,
died of burns at 12:42 a.m. "The men were scalded to death by high pressure
steam from the unexploded shell, which hit the main steam line and then the
boiler," remembered shipmate Ken Mathews.
For the families of all the last to die, the war in Korea has especially
poignant memories. Fifty years later, they must contend with the notion that
their loved ones perished in a war largely forsaken by the American public.
Nonetheless, all of these servicemen--like the other 36,568 Americans who gave
their lives so South Korea could be free--did not die in vain. That nation today
remains a bulwark of representative government and free enterprise in East Asia.
For this alone, all Korean War vets have a right to be proud.