Leon Eugene Clevenger was a United States Army soldier who went missing in action during the Korean War on July 11, 1950. His remains were located in November 1951 but were not identified until September 9, 2019.
Biography[]
Leon Clevenger was born on February 22, 1929, in Lonoke, Arkansas, to William and Violet McFadden Clevenger. He grew up with eight siblings, five brothers and three sisters. When Leon was a young adult, the family moved to Durham, North Carolina, and he enlisted in the United States Army. He became a corporal infantryman with Company K, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division.
Leon was a talented musician and was gifted at playing stringed instruments. While he could play everything except the banjo, his favorite instrument was the steel guitar. He enjoyed making music with his military brothers, some of whom formed a band called "The Gimlets Troubadours of K Company." He aspired to play professionally one day.
Leon was known to be generous and kind, to treat people with respect, be concerned about doing the right thing, and take care of others. He often sent money and special gifts from Japan to his family, such as silk scarfs for his sisters and silk shirts for his brothers, just to let them know he was thinking of them.
In his letters, Leon always asked about his siblings and encouraged them to pursue good things like learning new skills. He also stated that he missed his family and that he longed for his hunting and fishing trips, as well as playing music with his dad and eating his mother's homecooked meals. In one letter, he even stated that he could eat three pans of her homemade butter biscuits! Leon and his mother wrote frequently, and they would include sticks of Juicy Fruit gum as a special treat for one another.
Between July 10 and 12, 1950, the 21st Infantry Regiment fought with North Korea's People's Army's 4th Infantry Division and 105th Armored Division at the Battle of Chochiwon. The Americans, deployed along roads and railroads in between the two villages of Chonui and Chochiwon, South Korea, were to delay the two advancing North Korean People's Army divisions as much as possible. During the second day of the battle, Leon's unit was overrun near Chochiwon and disappeared shortly afterwards, although specific details are unknown.
The battle was a North Korean victory, and the 21st Infantry Regiment suffered heavily in casualties and equipment losses (409 killed, 256 wounded or taken prisoner, and nine tanks destroyed). However, the latter did buy the rest of the 24th Infantry Division enough time to set up blocking positions along the Kum River near Taejon, South Korea.
Aftermath[]
Leon was not among the prisoners of war or identified remains recovered when the Korean War ended on July 27, 1953. He was declared dead on December 31, 1953. He was posthumously awarded the following awards: the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantryman 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. Additionally, he was memorialized in Court 4 of the Honolulu Memorial Courts of the Missing in Honolulu, Hawaii and the National Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C.
In November 1951, a United States Army Graves Registration Team recovered the remains of an unidentified American soldier near the village of Kalgo-ri, South Korea. The area of recovery was approximately three miles from Leon's last known location. The remains were taken to the United States Military Cemetery in Tanggok, South Korea, and were later sent to the Central Identification Unit in Kokura, Japan, for further processing. The remains, dubbed "Unknown X-2258 Tanggok," could not be identified and were buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, AKA the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
Identification[]
In December 2018, the Department of Defense disinterred X-2258 and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory for analysis. To identify the remains, DPAA scientists used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial and material evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
Based on these methods, X-2258 was identified as Leon Clevenger on September 9, 2019. The identification was announced on November 17, 1951. By the time of his identification, his parents and all of his siblings had died, but he was survived by numerous nephews, nieces, and one sister-in-law. He was buried at Oak Grove Memorial Gardens in Durham in close proximity to his younger brother's grave on December 11, 2021.
The Gimlets Troubadours of K Company
Sources[]
- Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency
- Leon Clevenger (Honolulu Memorial) at Find a Grave
- Leon Clevenger (National Korean War Veterans Memorial) at Find a Grave
- Leon Clevenger (Oak Grove Memorial Gardens) at Find a Grave
- Tribute Archive
- Battle of Chochiown on Wikipedia