William McCollum

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Bio

William “Billy” McCollum was born on June 19, 1931, in Anderson, South Carolina, to Hattie Jane and Lonnie Adolphus McCollum. At just 17 years old, in January 1949, he was inducted into the United States Army at Fort Jackson in Columbia, South Carolina. When the Korean War erupted in 1950, Corporal McCollum was deployed to the front lines.

In late 1950, McCollum served in Company D, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, 31st Regimental Combat Team. In November, his unit reached the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea, where they faced relentless attacks from the Chinese People’s Volunteer Forces. During a withdrawal convoy on December 1, 1950, from Sinhung-ni to Hagaru-ri on the reservoir’s east side, McCollum went missing after his unit regrouped. He was declared missing in action on December 2, 1950, and presumed dead on December 31, 1953, when his family received an Army telegram. The location of his remains remained unknown after the war.

At the 2018 summit between President Donald Trump and Kim Jong-Un, an agreement was reached to return fifty-five boxes of American remains to the United States. These boxes were believed to contain the remains of soldiers who died during the 1950 Battle of Chosin Reservoir.

On August 1, 2018, the remains arrived at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency laboratory identified McCollum’s remains on September 11, 2019.

After seventy-one years, William McCollum finally returned home and was laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery.