The Rushville Republican, Rushville, IN, February 2, 2000,

The remains of a Rush County, Indiana soldier listed as missing in action on Nov. 2, 1950 have apparently been unearthed at a land reclamation project in North Korea. Approximately 415 sets of human remains were located during a bulldozing operation last week, including those of Charles E. "Buddy" Sizemore of Rush County. Sizemore was a 1948 graduate of Rushville High School.

"Hopefully, the family can finally have some closure," said Rushville resident Patty Stringman, a cousin of Sizemore. "Buddy" was always a favorite of his mother and I know that she always hoped that they would find him.

On Monday of this week, Li Gun, deputy North Korean representative at the United Nations, said the Korean People’s Army had invited the Pentagon to send a fact finding team to the land reclamation site to verify that the remains are those of the American service men. Kenneth Bacon, spokesman for the Defense Secretary William Cohen, said the Pentagon was reviewing Li’s offer. "We are committed to identifying and returning remains of American s who served in the Korean or any other war." About 82,000 U.S. service men are listed as missing from the 1950-53 Korean War and the Pentagon has said it believes a few thousand are potentially recoverable from North Korea.

U.S. recovery operations during the past few years have turned up 42 sets of remains. Negotiations on arranging joint recovery operations for this year broke down in December after the North Koreans demanded that the United States donate materials and equipment for children’s clothing factories.

Buddy wanted to enlist in the Navy after graduation. His father convinced him not to join up but he was drafted into the U.S. Army. He was assigned to Headquarters, Headquarters Company, 2^nd Battalion, 8^th Regiment, 1^st Cavalry Division.

On June 25, 2000, the 50^th anniversary of the Communist invasion of South Korea, a memorial honoring Korean War veterans in general and Pvt. Sizemore in particular was held in Rushville, IN. I attended the ceremony and met with former Staff Sergeant James Harris who was with the 70^th Tank Division which served as the support unit for the 1^st Cavalry. He related the following experiences to me:

American soldiers were committed to the aid of South Korea in stopping the Communist aggression. US. Soldiers were sent to fight and die against a well-trained and well-equipped North Korean Army. These untrained Americans were equipped with only small arms and a few Bazookas and only had a few rounds of ammunition for each. Without tanks to face the oncoming Russian built T34 tanks, they were expected to perform this task by hand. Everything was in short supply - fuel, ammo, clothing and food. They fought against overwhelming odds while slowly being pushed to the southern tip of South Korea into an area called the Pusan Perimeter which was about 35 miles wide and 65 miles long. The 1^st Cav had only 11,000 of its authorized wartime strength of 18,900 men.

The 70^th Tank Division was given 96 hours to pack up for the move to Korea as American GI’s were being shot to hell by Russian made tanks. The battalion was so short of tanks that those on concrete pedestals as monuments around Fort Knox were taken down and made operational.

On August 7, 1950 a ship carrying three tank battalions, the 70th, the 73rd and the 6th landed at Pusan but were given orders not to unload the tanks that arrived a couple of days later. These orders came from Gen. Walten Walker, however, Lt. Col. William M. Rodgers had already unloaded the 70th and it was assigned to the 1st Cav Division but we only had three truck loads of ammo for the entire Battalion. These tanks were able to stop the Russian made T34 tanks. No longer did their tanks advance but they began using the T34s as pillboxes and for laying land mines.

On August 12, 1950, the 1^st Cav made a strong stand on the Taejon road and delayed the advance of the North Korean Peoples Army. During the heavy fighting, Buddy’s 2^nd battalion was encircled and cut off. Artillerymen found themselves fighting as infantry. They lowered their gun turrets for direct fire into the oncoming enemy. Repeated attempts to break through the surrounded men failed but they suffered 275 casualties.

The 70th Tank Division led the advance of the 8th US. Army into North Korea just short of the Yalu River to the town of Unsan near the border with China. Men from the 1^st Cav were hitching rides on the tanks. It is probable that Buddy Sizemore rode on my tank. On October 19, the 1^st Cav took the North Korean capital of Pyongyang. The advance of the 8^th Army resumed despite a shortage of supplies, including winter clothing. Some riflemen had as few as 16 rounds of ammunition. On November 1, at Unsan about 70 miles north of Pyongyang, two Chinese divisions attacked and almost completely destroyed the Republic of Korea 15^th Infantry Regiment, the US 8th Cavalry Regiment and the1st Cavalry Division. By this time, six Chinese armies from Manchuria, well supplied and armed by the Soviets, had intervened and were attacking both fronts of the UN forces. The Chinese Air Force intervened with the introduction of the first Russian MIG-15s. On November 2, 1950, Buddy and his entire battalion were lost. The next day, November 3rd, B Co. of the 70^th, Tank Division had only 4 tanks and 27 men present for duty."

Six weeks after he left home for Korea, Buddy Sizemore’s mother received the telegraph saying he was missing in action.

This spring, DNA testing on the remains claimed by North Korea to be that of Pvt. Charles E. Sizemore proved conclusively that it was not him. His dog tags given as proof to the U.S. by North Korean government were probably picked up, by the Communist Chinese Forces, shortly after the battle at Unsan. Pvt. Charles Edward "Buddy" Sizemore is still listed as "Missing in Action."