Born April 8, 1930
Corporal, U.S. Army
Missing in Action – Presumed Dead
Died September 26, 1952 in Korea
Corporal Kleinschmidt was a member of Company B, 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division. He was listed as Missing in Action while fighting the enemy in North Korea on September 26, 1952. He was presumed dead on December 31, 1953. Corporal Kleinschmidt was awarded the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantryman’s Badge, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal and the National Defense Service Medal.
His name is listed on the tablets of the missing at the Honolulu Memorial within the American National Cemetery of the Pacific.
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See also – information from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency – https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000010KmaKEAS, as follows:
In fall 1952, the U.S. Army’s 7th Infantry Regiment was deployed along the front line of Allied forces in North Korea. On September 26, elements of Company B, 1st Battalion were holding defensive positions in forward foxholes near Hill 199, an outpost in the area of Kyeho-dong, North Korea. Following an intense mortar and artillery barrage, enemy forces launched an attack on Hill 199. This attack was ultimately repelled by the members of Company B, but not before many casualties were sustained.
Corporal Erwin William Kleinschmidt, who joined the U.S. Army from Illinois, was a member of B Company, 1st Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment, 3rd Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on September 26, 1952, following this attack. His remains have not been identified among those returned to the U.S. after the war and he remains unaccounted-for. Today, Corporal Kleinschmidt is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. His name is also inscribed on the Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC, which was updated in 2022 to include the names of the fallen.
Based on all information available, DPAA assessed the individual’s case to be in the analytical category of Deferred.
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Note: online mapping sources give the gps coordinates of Kyeho-dong as 38° 9′ 19″ N, 126° 43′ 29″ E. This is in the DMZ.
