William Frishe Dean Sr.

Fought enemy tanks and helped wounded soldiers leave Taejon.

William Frishe Dean Sr. was born on 1 August 1899 in Carlyle, Illinois. He graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, in 1922 and entered the Regular Army in 1923. During World War II he served as assistant commander and then commander of the 44th Infantry Division in Europe, earning the Distinguished Service Cross. His later assignments included military governor in South Korea, command of the 7th Infantry Division and service as Eighth Army chief of staff. In October 1949 he took command of the 24th Infantry Division in Japan.

In July 1950, the division was ordered from occupation duties into the fighting in Korea. Its largely untested troops faced a larger, experienced North Korean force. Dean directed the defense of Taejon, an important road and rail junction, as the enemy advanced south.

During the battle on 20 and 21 July, Dean exposed himself to artillery and small-arms fire to direct American tanks. His Medal of Honor citation credits him with personally attacking an enemy tank while armed with a hand grenade. When Taejon was overrun, he stayed with the retreating troops, organized their withdrawal, directed stragglers and helped wounded soldiers reach safety.

Separated from his men during the withdrawal, Dean evaded capture until 25 August 1950. He endured three years as a prisoner of war and was repatriated on 4 September 1953, after the armistice. He was the highest-ranking American prisoner of the Korean War. While he was still listed as missing, President Harry S. Truman presented his Medal of Honor to his wife, Mildred, at the White House on 9 January 1951.

After returning home, Dean served as deputy commanding general of Sixth Army at the Presidio of San Francisco. His memoir, General Dean's Story, appeared in 1954. He retired on 31 October 1955 as a major general. He died on 24 August 1981 and was buried in San Francisco National Cemetery.

Medal of Honor citation

Maj. Gen. Dean distinguished himself by conspicuous gallantry and intrepidity at the repeated risk of his life above and beyond the call of duty. In command of a unit suddenly relieved from occupation duties in Japan and as yet untried in combat, faced with a ruthless and determined enemy, highly trained and overwhelmingly superior in numbers, he felt it his duty to take action which to a man of his military experience and knowledge was clearly apt to result in his death. He personally and alone attacked an enemy tank while armed only with a hand grenade. He also directed the fire of his tanks from an exposed position with neither cover nor concealment while under observed artillery and small-arm fire. When the town of Taejon was finally overrun he refused to insure his own safety by leaving with the leading elements but remained behind organizing his retreating forces, directing stragglers, and was last seen assisting the wounded to a place of safety. These actions indicate that Maj. Gen. Dean felt it necessary to sustain the courage and resolution of his troops by examples of excessive gallantry committed always at the threatened portions of his frontlines. The magnificent response of his unit to this willing and cheerful sacrifice, made with full knowledge of its certain cost, is history. The success of this phase of the campaign is in large measure due to Maj. Gen. Dean's heroic leadership, courageous and loyal devotion to his men, and his complete disregard for personal safety.