Sergeant First Class Ray Christian Underwood was a member of Headquarters Company, 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. He was killed in action while fighting the enemy in North Korea. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.
The Chattanooga Daily Times, 16 February 1954
Sgt. Ray C. Underwood, son of Mr. and Mrs. H.L. Underwood of the Cookson’s Creek community in Polk County, has been declared dead by the Defense Department. Mr. and Mrs. Underwood were notified that their son was missing in action on Nov. 28, 1950. Underwood, 28, served with the First Cavalry Division in Korea. He first enlisted with the U.S. Army in 1944 and served in Germany during World War II. In 1947 he was sent to Japan and in 1949 he re-enlisted and was sent to Korea. Before entering the Army, Underwood attended Polk County High School at Benton, and worked for a brief period of time with the bomber plant at Marietta, Ga. His parents live on a farm approximately six miles south of Benton. The father is a former employe of the Tennessee Electric Power Co. and the Tennessee Valley Authority. Besides his parents, Sgt. Underwood is survived by two brothers, Paul of Cleveland; Lewis of Rossville, Ga.; three sisters, Mrs. Jane Stinnett and Mrs. Joe Bates of Chattanooga; Mrs. Luther Ledford of Oconee, and seven nephews and nieces.
- Rank: Sergeant First Class
- Date of birth: 21 September 1926
- Date of death: 28 November 1950
- County: Polk
- Hometown: Benton
- Service Branch: Army
- Division/Assignment: 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division
- Conflict: Korean War
- Awards: Bronze Star, Purple Heart, Combat Infantrymans Badge, Korean Service Medal, United Nations Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Korean Presidential Unit Citation, and Republic of Korea War Service Medal
- Burial/Memorial Location: Honolulu Memorial, Honolulu, Hawaii
- Location In Memorial: Pillar XXI, Middle Panel
- Contact us to sponsor Ray C. Underwood
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