Sgt. James E. McKenna
United States Army (1949-1950)
James E. McKenna was born in April 19,
1931 to parents Mary W. and James F. McKenna. He had a brother, Edward, and
a sister, Marianne. The McKenna family were members of the Church of the
Resurrection and lived at 1230 Bellaire Place in East Brookline.
An active participant in Scouting in
Brookline, James was the first member of Resurrection's Troop #6 to reach the
rank of Eagle Scout. He was also a member of Explorer Scout Post
#706, the Order of the Arrow, the Holy Name Society and the Men's Choir at
Resurrection. As an eleven year old Junior Commando during World War II,
responsible for scrap metal collection, McKenna and his squad collected over
9400 pounds, earning mention in the October 1, 1942 Pittsburgh
Press.
A graduate of Resurrection Elementary
School, at age eighteen James enlisted in the Army on June 24, 1949, less than
a week after graduating from South Hills High School, where he was a member of
the track team. After boot camp he was assigned to the intelligence unit of the
Headquarters Service Company, 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion of the 2nd Infantry
Division, then based at Fort Lewis in Tacoma, Washington.
As a member of the Headquarters Service
Company, Private McKenna's duties were in the area of supervising map creation
for the various battalion assignments, which included Arctic air transportability,
amphibious, and maneuver training. With the outbreak of hostilities in Korea during
the summer of 1950, the 2nd Infantry Division was quickly alerted for movement to
the Far East Command where it would join the U.S. Eighth Army.
Private James McKenna arrived in Korea,
disembarking at Pusan, on July 23. The 2nd Division became the first to reach
Korea directly from the United States. The Division was initially employed
piecemeal during the desperate struggle along the Pusan Perimeter. The entire
Division was committed as an intact unit on August 24, relieving the 24th
Infantry Division at the Naktong River Line.
The first big test came when the North
Koreans struck in a desperate human wave attack on the night of August 31.
During the sixteen day battle that followed, known as the Great Naktong Offensive, the Division's clerks, bandsmen, technical
and supply personnel all joined in the fight to defend against the attackers.
The Naktong Offensive was one of the most brutal fights of the Korean
War.
Shortly after General MacArther's
successful landing at Inchon, on September 15, forced the hasty withrawal of
the North Korean Army in the south, the 2nd Infantry Division was the first
unit to break out of the Pusan Perimeter. They led the Eighth Army drive up
the west coast of the peninsula, all the way to the Manchurian
border.
During this advance, the 2nd Combat
Engineer Battalion busied itself with mine clearing details, road and bridge
building projects and any other logistical exercises necessary to keep the 2nd
Division moving forward in pursuit of the retreating North Korean Army. Having
recently been promoted, Corporal James McKenna of the HQ Company kept busy
supervising the creation and distribution of maps for the United Nations
forces.
The Eighth Army was nearing the Yalu River
and the Manchurian border in the Western part of Korea when the Chinese entered
the fight. The initial Chinese offensive lasted from October 25 to November 4.
The People's Volunteer Army (PVA) destroyed the right flank of the Eighth Army and
forced the U.N. units to retreat back to the Ch'ongch'on River.
After these initial successes, the Chinese
then withdrew their forces due to logistical difficulties. General MacArthur,
misled by the Chinese retreat, launched another offensive push towards the Yalu
River. The 2nd Division advanced to within fifty miles of the Yalu River when
Chinese forces attacked again, this time with a force of nearly 500,000
soldiers.
The Battle of Ch'ongch'on River began on November 25, The Chinese juggernaut
rolled over the front line defenses. The 2nd Division began a hurried withdrawal
back towards the village of Kunu-Ri along the Ch'ongch'on River. The 2nd Combat
Engineer Battalion was ordered to set up a defensive position and hold the
village to protect the rear and right flank of the Eighth Army as it retired to
the south.
Companies from the Battalion were attached
to two Infantry Regiments, the 9th and 38th, to fill gaps in the defending lines.
The lines eventually gave way to brutal assaults by three Chinese divisions. By
November 26, after three days of heavy fighting, the three enemy divisions had
grown to five, with more on the way.
On November 29, the 2nd Combat Engineer
Battalion received orders to relocate south to Sunchon, but the Chinese had
blocked the only escape route south at a mountain pass. The Battalion moved
forward to clear a path through the obstacle and open the road. Once the road
was cleared, the battalion was told to hold the line with the 23rd Infantry
Regiment and Battery A of the 503rd Field Artillery.
Early on November 30, the massive 2nd
Infantry Division convoy began to slowly make its way across the mountain pass
through a six-mile gauntlet of Chinese sniper and mortar fire. Within hours the
situation turned from bad to worse as swarms of Chinese troops engulfed the
retreating column.
The 2nd Engineer Battalion was the only unit
left to oppose the massive Chinese assault. The engineers successfully held off the
enemy long enough for the remainder of the 2nd Infantry Division to evacuate through
the pass. While running the gauntlet, the 23rd Infantry Regiment fired off its
entire stock of 3,206 artillery shells within twenty minutes, a massive barrage that
prevented Chinese troops from following the regiment.
Combat Engineers from the 2nd Battalion
fighting off Chinese attacks during the Battle of Ch'ongch'on River.
Unfortunately, by this time the engineers’
window of opportunity to escape had closed. At 7:30pm on November 30, Colonel Alarich
Zacherle, Battalion Commander, ordered all equipment destroyed. Magnesium grenades
were dropped on heavy equipment tracks and engines. Tires were filled with gasoline,
thrown inside vehicles and set ablaze.
Zacherle then ordered the Battalion Colors,
its custom-made box, and the twenty-five combat streamers that adorned it soaked in
gasoline and set on fire. He wanted to prevent the Chinese from capturing it as a war
trophy. "Burning the colors and getting the hell out of there," according to
Colonel Zacherle, were the only two things on the minds of everyone
present.
About thirty minutes after Zacherle gave the
order to burn the colors, the Chinese forces overran the engineers. Very few escaped.
When the 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion regrouped after the battle, just 266 of the
original 977 men remained. Only one officer was present; all others had been killed
or captured. Missing in action after the November 30 engagement was nineteen-year old
Corporal James E. McKenna.
The 2nd Engineer Battalion burns its colors on
November 30, 1950 near Kunu-Ri in North Korea.
News of James McKenna's uncertain fate reached
his family in Brookline shortly around Christmas time. Ironically, it came only days
after his last letter home arrived, which was dated November 28, 1950. The Pittsburgh
Press listed James McKenna as Missing in Action on January 7, 1951.
While the McKennas and their friends hoped for
the best, that possibly James was being held prisoner, back on the Korean Peninsula
the Chinese PVA pushed the Eighth Army all the way into South Korea and recaptured
the South Korean capital city of Seoul. From there, the U.N. retreat ended and the
Allies struck back. They liberated Seoul for a second time and advanced to the 38th
Parallel, where the front stabilized.
The 2nd Infantry Division and the 2nd Combat
Engineer Battalion continued to slug it out with the Chinese PVA for another two
years, participating in the battles at both Bloody and Heartbreak Ridges. After the
Korean Armistice Agreement was signed on June 27, 1953, the Division spent another
year in country before being redeployed to the United States in 1954.
Back in Brookline, hope turned to sadness
in the McKenna home at 1230 Bellaire Place when, in March 1954, James was declared
dead by the Defense Department. While he was missing, the Army saw fit to promote
Corporal McKenna to the rank of Sergeant. A memorial service was held for Sgt. James
E. McKenna on Saturday, March 6, 1954, at Resurrection Church.
A year and a half later, on September 21,
1955, the Pittsburgh Press printed an official death notice after James' body had been
returned to the United States. A three-day memorial service was held at DeBor Funeral
Home, followed by Requiem Mass at Resurrection Church on Saturday September 24. James
E. McKenna is buried in Saint Michaels Cemetery.
* Written by Clint Burton:
May 12, 2018 *
The Brookline
War Memorial
Listed below are
many of the sons of Brookline who gave their
lives to preserve freedom and contain aggression during
World War I, World War II, Korea and Vietnam.
“It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died.
Rather, we should thank God that such men lived.”
General George S. Patton
World War I
(1917-1919)
The World War I Memorial -
Washington D.C.
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World War II
(1941-1945)
Alm, William H.
Pioneer Avenue
Army
Details |
Arensberg, Roy T.
Fernhill Avenue
Army
Details |
Bracey, Bruce H.
Plainview Avenue
Army
Details |
Brickley, Edward G.
Woodward Avenue
Army
Details |
Capogreca, James J.
Merrick Avenue
Navy
Details |
Copeland, Clarence R.
Creedmoor Avenue
Navy
Details |
Cullison, Thomas J.
Birtley Avenue
Army
Details |
Dempsey, Howard F.
Berkshire Avenue
Army
Details |
Dempsey, Walter F.
Milan Avenue
Navy
Details |
Diegelman, Edward R. Jr
Norwich Avenue
Army
Details |
Dornetto, Frank P.
Jacob Street
Navy
Details |
Doyle, John F Jr.
Eben Street
Navy
Details |
Fagan, Gerald B.
Woodbourne Avenue
Army
Details |
Falk, Harold E.
Pioneer Avenue
Army
Details |
Fehring, Robert M.
Fernhill Avenue
Army
Details |
Gmuca, Joseph J.
Brookline Boulevard
Army
Details |
Heil, Robert F.
Bayridge Avenue
Army
Details |
Hynes, Richard E.
Waddington Avenue
Army
Details |
Kestler, Paul C.
Creedmoor Avenue
Navy
Details |
Ketters, Robert C.
Berkshire Avenue
Army
Details |
Mahoney, Michael J.
Oakridge Street
Army
Details |
Majestic, Arthur B.
Starkamp Avenue
Army
Details |
Mayberry, Alexander G.
Breining Street
Army
Details |
Mazza, John
Alwyn Street
Army
Details |
McCann, Robert F.
Edgebrook Avenue
Navy
Details |
McFarland, Hugh R.
McNeilly Road
Army
Details |
Meisner, Walter F.
Berwin Avenue
Merchant Marine
Details |
Miller, William J.
Norwich Avenue
Army
Details |
Napier, Edward J.
Brookline Boulevard
Army
Details |
Nicholson, John D.
Woodbourne Avenue
Army
Details |
O'Day, John R.
Creedmoor Avenue
Navy
Details |
Orient, Andrew D.
Fordham Avenue
Army
Details |
Pisiecki, Raymond A.
Wolford Avenue
Army
Details |
Reeves, Alfred M.
Brookline Boulevard
Army
Details |
Reitmeyer, John P.
Bellaire Avenue
Navy
Details |
Rhing, Vern M.
Norwich Avenue
Army
Details |
Ruane, Roy J.
Berkshire Avenue
USMC
Details |
Shannon, Harry C.
Midland Street
Army
Details |
Shannon, Jack E.
Midland Street
USMC
Details |
Simpson, James D.
Woodbourne Avenue
Army
Details |
Spack, Harry
Linial Avenue
Army
Details |
Tobin, Paul M.
Woodbourne Avenue
Army
Details |
Vierling, Howard F.
Fordham Avenue
Army
Details |
Wagner, Ralph G.
Shawhan Avenue
Army
Details |
Wentz, Walter L. Jr
Woodbourne Avenue
Army
Details |
Zeiler, Harold V.
West Liberty Avenue
Army
Details |
The World War II Memorial -
Washington D.C.
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Korean War
(1950-1953)
Korean War Memorial -
Washington D.C.
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Vietnam War
(1965-1973)
Vietnam War Memorial -
Washington D.C.
The Brookline
Monument - The Cannon
<Brookline
War Memorial> <> <Brookline
History> |