Rolling Thunder Illinois Chapter 2
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Corporal Stanley Paul Arendt
Stanley “Sonny” Arendt, who grew up in the Palatine area, had joined the U.S. Army in 1948 at age 18, spending two years in Japan and re-enlisting to serve with his buddies in the Korean War.
CAPTURE: CPL. Arendt was a member of Company L, 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, which was stationed near Unsan on Nov. 1, 1950, when two Chinese divisions struck. By 0200 hours, the morning of 02 November, the Chinese had blocked the last remaining site siminsag road for a possible retreat overland. South of Unsan, the 3rd Battalion, commanded by Major Ormond, had dug in just north of the Nammyon River. By dawn, the entire regiment was completely surrounded. The 3rd Battalion was trapped by the Chinese. All day long fighter aircraft and bombers pounded the enemy positions.
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U.S. Army Cpl. Chester Roper
MISSING:. U.S. Army Cpl. Chester Roper was part of a firing battery in a unit made up of African-Americans, Battery A, 503rd Field Artillery Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division In late November 1950, Roper and his unit were “overrun” by Chinese forces “deep within North Korea,” O’Brien said.
He was captured by enemy forces on Dec. 1, 1950 near Somindong, North Korea. After being held captive for weeks, Roper and others marched for five days and on Jan. 20 1951, he entered a camp near the south bank of the Yalu River near a village called Pyoktong.
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1 LT James Meagher
On Feb. 8, 1944, 27-year-old warehouse manager-turned-World War II fighter pilot Jim Meagher climbed into the cockpit of his P-47 Thunderbolt and took off from an airfield in Bodney, England.
Painted on the blue nose of his plane was “Patricia Lee” — the name of the baby daughter back in Elgin, Ill., he never had seen.
But this citizen soldier never would meet his Patricia Lee. It would be 67 more years before she and the rest of his family would finally learn what happened to him that cold winter morning.
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U.S. Army Cpl. Donald MacLean
MISSING:. U.S. Army Cpl. Donald MacLean was trained in light infantry, MacLean went to the Korean War as a private 1st class in Company D, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division.
During the brutal Battle of Chosin Reservoir that raged for nearly two weeks in below-zero temperatures with U.S. forces overwhelmingly outmanned and outgunned, MacLean was killed in an attack near the reservoir and reported as missing in action on 2 Dec 1950. His remains were buried on the eastern bank of the reservoir alongside other members of the “Chosin Few” killed during the bloody battle. The U.S. Army declared him “presumed dead” on Dec. 31, 1953, and promoted him posthumously to corporal.
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Capt. Joseph Olbinski
Capt. Joseph Olbinski, an Army Air Force C-47 pilot with the 4th Troop Carrier Squadron, was reported MIA on 23 MAY 1944. His aircraft – what little there is left of it – was found in north Burma a few years ago. Joe’s brother Edwin, age 82, lives in Marengo, IL. He had another brother (Robert) but he died last year. Bob also was a pilot in WWII, for a B-17 rather than a C-47, but was reportedly shot down on his first mission, and spent the war in a German POW camp. Edwin was too young for service in WWII, and exempt in Korea due to his brothers’ service.
The major function of Rolling Thunder is to publicize the POW/MIA issue: To educate the the public that many American Prisoners of Wars were left behind after previous wars, and to help correct and to protect future veterans from being left behind.
ROLLING THUNDER®, INC., CHAPTER 2 IL
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Elgin, Illinois 60124
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