No time to celebrate
by David Simon
News-Post Staff

	This insignia represents Cpl. Conrad Theriault's rank at the time of his disappearance.
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A day after U.S. soldiers drove North Korean forces from Seoul, South Korea, plans were under way for a liberation ceremony, but U.S. Marine Cpl. Conrad Walter Theriault had no time to celebrate.

In late September 1950, Col. Homer Litzenberg sent 18-year-old Theriault of Lewistown and other members of the 1st Marine Division, 7th Marine Regiment, Anti-tank Company, to cut off the likely retreat of North Korean forces.

They took positions along the main highway to Uijongbu, the hub of a major rail and road network about 16 miles to the north.

Theriault had landed at Inchon, South Korea, with the 1st Marine Division on Sept. 15, the first day of this decisive battle.

They quickly pushed inland to capture Seoul and Kimpo, a key air base.

By Sept. 24, the Marines were on the western outskirts of Seoul and began attacking the city, encountering heavily defended 6- to 8-foot high barricades every couple of hundred feet. U.S. and North Korean forces engaged in vicious house-to-house fighting as the American soldiers pressed forward, wresting control of Seoul on Sept. 27.

Litzenberg had anticipated the retreat route, and the 7th Marine Regiment spent most of Sept. 29 involved with small skirmishes, mopping up remnants of the North Korean army.

The next day, Litzenberg received the orders he was expecting — to move even farther north and block the escape route. For the mission, the 7th Marine Regiment was augmented with tanks, engineers and artillery, swelling to almost brigade strength.

The attack began about 6:30 a.m. Oct. 1. The Marines anticipated the North Koreans would make a stand at Nuwon-ni, a village nestled between two mountains — a natural bottleneck. By dusk, the lines were set and the Marines and North Koreans engaged in intermittent, heavy fighting.

As dawn broke the following day, the Marines moved forward under a steady shower of air and artillery strikes. The fighting was so intense, several small villages were destroyed, but on the afternoon of Oct. 3 they secured Uijongbu.

Theriault didn't make it that far — he was killed Oct. 2 in Nuwon-ni. The Army has no information about the exact circumstances of his death.

The Army interviewed veterans, including several 7th Marine Regiment members, who fought at Seoul and Uijongbu. No evidence suggests Theriault was ever in a prisoner of war camp or was alive in enemy hands.

In September 2006 and May of this year, a Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office team met with representatives of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, which promised the United States access to its archives.

Over the next few years, another team will search for applicable records that might shed some light on the early losses during the Korean War.