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Blue, Willie Earl, PFC.
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Casualty Info
Home Town New Orleans
Casualty Date Aug 31, 1950
Cause MIA-Finding of Death
Reason Unknown, Not Reported
Location Korea, South
Conflict Korean War/UN Defensive (1950)
Location of Interment Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial - Honolulu, Hawaii
Korean War/UN Defensive (1950)/ First Battle of Naktong Bulge
From Month/Year
August / 1950
To Month/Year
August / 1950
Description The First Battle of Naktong Bulge was an engagement between United States and North Korean forces early in the Korean War from August 5–19, 1950 in the vicinity of Yongsan (Yeongsan, Changnyeong county) and the Naktong River in South Korea. It was a part of the Battle of Pusan Perimeter, and was one of several large engagements fought simultaneously. The battle ended in a victory for the United States after large numbers of US reinforcements destroyed an attacking North Korean division.
On August 5, 4th Infantry Division, North Korean People's Army (KPA), crossed the Naktong River in the vicinity of Yongsan, attempting to cut US supply lines to the north as well as gaining a bridgehead into the Pusan Perimeter. Opposing it was the 24th Infantry Division of the Eighth United States Army. Over the next two weeks, American and North Korean forces fought a bloody series of engagements inflicting heavy casualties on one another in a confusing series of attacks and counterattacks, but neither side was able to gain the upper hand. In the end, the US forces, aided by reinforcements, air support and heavy weapons, destroyed the invading North Korean force which was hampered by lack of supply and high desertion rates.
The battle was a turning point in the war for North Korean forces, which had seen previous victories owing to superior numbers and equipment. The American forces now had a numerical superiority and more equipment, including tanks and weapons capable of defeating the powerful North Korean T-34 tanks.