Freddie Lee Henson

In late November 1950, Henson was a member of Battery A, 57th Field Artillery Battalion, 7th Infantry Division. Approximately 2,500 U.S. and 700 South Korean soldiers assembled into the 31st Regimental Combat Team (RCT), which was deployed east of the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea, when it was engaged by overwhelming numbers of Chinese forces. By Dec. 5, only 385 of the approximately 3,200 Americans and South Koreans assigned to the 31st RCT were still fit for duty. As the 57th FA BN accounted for its men from the battles, Henson was reported missing as of Dec. 6. During the 36th Joint Recovery Operation in 2004, recovery teams conducted operations on the eastern bank of the Chosin Reservoir, Changjin County, North Korea, based on information provided a Korean witness. The site was in the vicinity of Twikkae Village. During the excavation, the recovery team recovered possible human remains of at least five individuals. Laboratory analysis and circumstantial evidence were used in the identification of his remains. His name is permanently engraved in the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.