The 35th Infantry Regiment Association salutes our fallen brother, PV2 Lyman LeRoy Wilcox, US55158774, who died in the service of his country on March 21st, 1952 in the vicinity of Sonjon, North Korea. The cause of death was listed as KIA. At the time of his death Lyman was 21 years of age. He was from Poplar Bluff, Missouri. Lyman's Military Occupation Specialty was 4745-Light Weapons Infantryman.
The decorations earned by PV2 Lyman LeRoy Wilcox include: the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Purple Heart, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Korea Service Medal, and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.
Private Wilcox was a member of the 35th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division. He was Killed in Action while fighting the enemy in North Korea on March 21, 1952. Private Wilcox was awarded the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantrymans Badge, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.
Burial:
Woodlawn Cemetery
Poplar Bluff
Butler County
Missouri, USA
(Following from Richard Boulware)
I was on the patrol when Lyman was killed. At the time of this patrol I was 19 years old and had been in Korea for 10 months. I was rotated back to the states 2 months after Lymans death and didnt get a lot of details after the patrol ended. Let me begin, it was winter and we were issued white uniforms to avoid detection. Our mission was to go down a finger from our mountain position to within 3000 yards of the Chinese position. The bottom of the finger ended in a valley about 1/4 mile from the chinese. We left in the morning, not sure what time, but it was daylight. We were going down the finger approximately 1/2 hour when artillery began coming in on us. I was one of the first in front of the patrol and I was to find out later Lyman was close behind me. The artillery started hitting the back of our patrol then eased its way down to where I was at. I was lying on the ground trying to become invisible when an artillery shell exploded 30 yards up the finger from me I could feel snow debri and shrapnel flying around me. I never raised my head until I heard someone yell "lets get the hell out of here" When I turned around I could see Lyman lying by a tree in an upright position and it was obviously from the look on his white uniform he was in bad shape. I have no idea how long it was from the time the artillery shell went off until I turned to see Lyman. I started up the finger and when I passed Lyman it was obvious he experienced no pain from his mortal wound. The medic was there when I passed him. Lt King our platoon leader was also killed on this patrol.
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