Posted by XXXXXXXXXXX on April 21, 2008:

Richard Lauren Warren NO. 16751 CLASS OF 1948 KILLED IN ACTION, JULY 27, 1950, IN KOREA AGED 24 YEARS AFTER all else has been said, and all glories and rewards distributed, let it be said of the soldier only that he has performed his duty nobly. On July 27, 1950, the 3d Battalion, 29th Infantry Regiment, experienced a meeting engagement with enemy forces of unknown strength and identity. Continuing its advance, the Battalion was forced to begin preparation of defensive positions when enemy resistance turned to increasingly strong pressure. That afternoon, the Battalion was assaulted by an estimated three North Korean divisions which later compelled the forced withdrawal of the American forces from what had turned into a hopeless situation. Lieutenant Warren, commanding Battalion Headquarters Company at the time, was given the task of notifying all companies, while at the same time effecting re-supply of ammunition and the evacuation of wounded. Mission accomplished, he realized that some of his own men had been wounded and cut off. Lieutenant Warren was last seen returning to an area heavily covered by enemy artillery and small arms fire in an effort to guide his men to safety. So reads the story as pieced together from the accounts of men who were there and returned. Officially there was a period of Missing in Action, when those of us who knew Dick waited and prayed. After six months, Dick's remains were found on the battlefield and returned home. Now, those of us who knew and loved him have our reminiscences, which are priceless. For Dick's mother there is his boyhood. She can look back with pride to the healthy foundation which prepared him to meet Life's test . . . "getting his share of spankings, but never rebellious" He was on the National Champion YMCA basketball team for ten year olds. In summer camp, Dick carried away honors for athletic and disciplinary achievements. She remembers that he was a religious boy, considering others always, but never overt or desiring reward. He was independent, as she had taught him to be, despite the fact that Dick was her youngest. There was never a time when Life was too busy to write or respect his "Mable". For Dick's father, a retired National Guard Officer, the news of his sacrifice was too severe, for he died shortly thereafter. For Dick's two brothers, there are memories of close companionship, despite the separating age differences. As advisors and counselors, as only older brothers can be, they did their job well. To Dick, his brothers had no equals. In effect, they were his two extra fathers. He pictured them as his goal of manhood and representative of all the traits of character he had learned to respect. His brothers had followed the Army, which, coupled with his father's experiences, left only one natural course for Dick to follow. He entered Millard's to prepare, compete and hope for a chance to follow in their footsteps. For Dick's classmates and brother officers, there is profoundest admiration for him. We first knew of him as a little guy from Sumter, South Carolina, with a likeable drawl and a ready humor that brightened what seemed like Life's darkest moments at the time. He had more charm and personality than the rest of us could "shake a stick at", to quote his favorite expression. But behind his sociability was a sincerity and code of living that encouraged the deepest of friendship. We sweated him through academics primarily because he was more interested in his friends than in his books, but never for a moment did we doubt that he would meet any future challenge with anything less than courage and devotion to duty. As his roommate for four and a half years, I humbly add that Dick was the truest friend I have ever had. For the feelings of those who served over him, we must refer to his Regimental Commander: "Dick was one of the finest, most dependable young officers in my command, and his was a most promising future. I know, because I knew Dick, that he gave his life to his duty, and honorably" And to his ex-Company Commander: "He was a very conscientious officer, and from what I have heard, that is one reason why he did not get out of Hadong". For those who served under Dick, as told to his brother by a soldier in a General Hospital: "Yes, sir, I knew your brother mighty well. He was the best officer in our battalion, and I mean that. I tried to get transferred to his company when I heard we were going to Korea, but I couldn't. I wanted to go into combat with that kind of officer. He was always taking care of his men and seeing about what they needed. The last person he ever thought about was himself". And so it is. We could write many paragraphs more, but at the end of each line must come the realization of the miserable inadequacy of words to express what we all feel in our hearts. Those of us who have lost you, Dick, can never be consoled, each with our individual loss, for you mean too much to us. You have been and are too great a part of our lives for that. Nor does your sacrifice seem just, for no one enjoyed the fruits of life more than you, or had more to give mankind. Those of us who returned or remain, and from whom you possibly drew inspiration, now find ourselves turning to you for that same unselfish courage. As we consider your sacrifice in the light of ours to come, may all of us draw strength from the fact that you saw your duty and performed it nobly. Thanks, Dick, for being such a man, and our friend. — F. E. W.

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