4/25/2013:
Donald Arneson was the son of a widowed carpenter from Hillsboro who fought with North Dakota’s 164th Regiment during WWII. After the war, he went to NDSU, but after a year he decided to re-enlist.
Now 28, Arneson was serving in Japan when the Korean War broke out in 1950, and he was soon back on the battlefield. Casualties were horrific that summer and fall, and as winter approached, the possibility of defeating North Korea seemed promising, but everything changed in late November when hundreds of thousands of Chinese troops entered the war.
When spring arrived, Arneson was one of the only original soldiers of his unit still standing. In the third week of April 1951, his 35th Regiment was positioned near the center of the Korean peninsula, where the Chinese had been setting huge fires in recent days. The smoke obscured their movements from reconnaissance planes, a sure sign they were massing for a major offensive.
Arneson’s regiment was positioned near the Turkish Brigade, whose warriors were considered ferocious on the battlefield. As the sun went down on April 22, a heavy barrage of artillery fire started falling on the Turks’ positions. After three hours of constant pounding, the barrage lifted, and thousands of Chinese foot soldiers swarmed out of the darkness.
The clash was so aggressive that both sides engaged in hand-to-hand combat. Even though the Turks were exceptionally skilled with combat knives, they were out-numbered, and the Chinese started breaking through their lines. As the sun rose, the Turkish Brigade found itself nearly surrounded and was forced to fall back.
While both sides reorganized for the next round, Arneson’s 35th Regiment quickly rushed forward to replace the Turkish Brigade. The next Chinese attack came the night of April 25th, and the Americans suffered more than 150 casualties by the time they were ordered to fall back the following morning.
That was the last time Arneson was seen alive, and two days later, he was listed as killed in action. But his remains were not found, and when the Korean truce was signed in 1953, there were hopes the Hillsboro soldier – as well as 8,000 other missing men – would show up during prisoner exchanges. But it was not to be.
Master Sergeant Arneson was declared dead several months later, and a memorial marker for him was eventually placed in the Ringsaker Cemetery east of Buxton.
Dakota Datebook written by Merry Helm
(Source: Bismarck Tribune. 29 Jan 1954; 35th Infantry Regiment: Korea.)