FIRST LIEUTENANT WILLIAM J. BERGMAN
• Courts of the Missing, National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (Honolulu, HI)
• Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall, Washington, D.C.
PERSONAL DATA
• Name: William J. Bergman
• Home of Record: Little Rock, Pulaski County, Arkansas
• Year of Birth: 1915 (month/day not listed)
MILITARY DATA
• Service Branch: U.S. Army
• Rank: First Lieutenant (1LT)
• Unit: M Company, 3rd Battalion, 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division
CASUALTY DATA
• Date of Loss / Capture: July 28, 1950 (Taejon area, Korea)
• Status: Prisoner of War — Died while captured (POW)
• Circumstances: Captured during the withdrawal and fighting around Taejon. Per returned POW reports, he died in captivity (malnutrition/illness reported) on or before August 31, 1951, at a North Korean POW camp; reportedly buried nearby.
• Remains: Not recovered (BNR)
SERVICE STORY
First Lieutenant William J. Bergman led soldiers of M Company, 3/34th Infantry, 24th Infantry Division during the harsh early weeks of the Korean War. As North Korean forces pressed U.S. lines near Taejon in late July 1950, his battalion fought a difficult withdrawal under roadblocks and ambush. 1LT Bergman was captured on July 28, 1950. Testimony from repatriated prisoners later recorded that he died in captivity the following year. He is memorialized in Honolulu and in Washington, D.C., a lasting testament to duty and sacrifice.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS / SOURCES
• Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) — Service member profile and POW status details.
• National Archives — “U.S. Military Fatal Casualties of the Korean War (Arkansas)” entry: “BERGMAN WILLIAM J ARMY 1LT 19150000 LITTLE ROCK PULASKI 19500728 N.”
• Arkansas Korean War Project — Listing notes “Died while captured.”
• Korean War Project — 1LT William Joseph Bergman, unit M/3/34th Infantry, status: Hostile, Died While Captured (POW), remains not recovered.
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