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Pamela LaVerne Jeans-Historian
to remember
Marine PFC Irwin Handler.
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Casualty Info
Home Town Boston
Last Address Long Beach, CA
Casualty Date Dec 05, 1950
Cause KIA-Died of Wounds
Reason Gun, Small Arms Fire
Location Korea, North
Conflict Korean War/CCF Intervention (1950-51)/Battle of the Chosin Reservoir (Battle of Changjin)
Location of Interment Hillside Memorial Park - Culver City, California
Korean War/CCF Intervention (1950-51)/Battle of the Chosin Reservoir (Battle of Changjin)
From Month/Year
November / 1950
To Month/Year
December / 1950
Description The Battle of Chosin Reservoir, also known as the Chosin Reservoir Campaign or the Changjin Lake Campaign was a decisive battle in the Korean War. "Chosin" is the Japanese pronunciation of the Korean name, "Changjin". The UN forces relied on Japanese language maps dating from their occupation of Korea which had only ended five years earlier at the conclusion of World War II. Shortly after the People's Republic of China entered the conflict, the People's Volunteer Army 9th Army infiltrated the northeastern part of North Korea.
On 27 November, the Chinese 9th Army surprised the US X Corps commanded by Major General Edward Almond at the Chosin Reservoir area. A brutal 17 day battle in freezing weather soon followed. In the period between 27 November and 13 December 1950, 30,000 United Nations troops (later nicknamed "The Chosin Few") under the field command of Major General Oliver P. Smith were encircled and attacked by approximately 120,000 Chinese troops under the command of Song Shi-Lun, who had been ordered by Mao Zedong to destroy the UN forces. The UN forces were nonetheless able to make a fighting withdrawal and broke out of the encirclement while inflicting crippling losses on the Chinese. While the battle resulted in the Chinese pushing the UN out of North Korea, it was a Pyrrhic victory. The evacuation of the X Corps from the port of Hungnam marked the complete withdrawal of UN troops from North Korea.
My Participation in This Battle or Operation
From Month/Year
November / 1950
To Month/Year
December / 1950
Last Updated: Mar 16, 2020
Personal Memories
Memories Died of Wounds Died December 5, 1950 in Korea
BATTLE ZONE: CHOSIN RESERVOIR TOWN OR AREA: HAGARU-RI
Private First Class Handler was a member of Company A, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines, 1st Marine Division. He was seriously wounded while fighting the enemy in Korea and died of those wounds on December 5, 1950
