To The Last Man

In the Forgotten War, there are many who served whose names and memories will never be forgotten. US Army Sergeant William T. Miles is one of them. From the hunting trips of his youth in the Pocono Mountains, where he learned many of the skills that would help him in wartime, to chaotic battlefields of Korea, Miles made a lasting impression on all those he knew—then he disappeared. 

On July 6, 1951, Miles was part of a joint US South Korean Special Forces team operating deep behind enemy lines in North Korea when the team was attacked by a large enemy force. As they tried to break contact with the enemy, Miles volunteered to stay behind and cover the retreat of his fellow team members. He was never seen or heard from again. 

Miles’s fate remained a mystery for decades after the end of the Korean War. Amid conflicting and erroneous reports of what happened on the day he disappeared, his family never knew the full details or circumstances of his disappearance. However, in 2017, new evidence discovered among declassified military documents and among the recollections of Korean War veterans shed new light on the story of William T. Miles and the sacrifice he made that day, providing closure to his family after sixty-six years.