Private First Class Rome Houston Hance was a Light Weapons Infantryman with the 35th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division. He was Killed in Action while fighting the enemy in South Korea on August 18, 1950. Private First Class Hance was awarded the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantrymans Badge, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.

Buried at Ray’s Chapel, Dandridge, TN.

The Newport Times, Sept. 13, 1950
Rev. Hugh Hance, Hartford, has received no further information from the War Department since last week when he learned that his son, Pfc. Rome H. Hance, is listed as missing in action on the Korean war front. A telegram from Washington said that additional information, if received, would be forwarded to Rev. Hance. Pfc. Hance is 19 years old and has been serving overseas since January of this year.

The Newport Times, July 11, 1951
Pfc Rome Houston Hance, volunteered for service in the U.S. Army July 22, 1949, received his training at Fort Jackson, S.C. at the age of 18 years. He sailed from the United States December 19, 1949, landed in Japan January 4, 1950, was killed in action in Korea August 18, 1950.
The body arrived in Newport, Tennessee July 6, 1951. Funeral service was held from the Blacks Chapel church near Hartford, Tenn.

The Knoxville Journal, July 6, 1951
The body of Pfc. Rome Houston Hance, Cocke County’s first soldier to be killed in the Korean War, will arrive here tomorrow. Funeral services for Private Hance, who was killed August 18, 1950, will be held at Black’s Chapel at noon Sunday, with a leter service to be held at Ray’s Chapel. Interment will be in the Ray’s Chapel Cemetery. The 19-year old soldier, the son of the Rev. And Mrs. Hugh Hance of Hartford, Route 1, was a member of the Black’s Chapel Baptist Church.

  • Rank: Private First Class
  • Date of birth:
  • 2 August 1931
  • Date of death: 18 August 1950
  • County: Cocke
  • Hometown: Dandridge
  • Service Branch: Army
  • Division/Assignment: 35th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division
  • Conflict: Korean War
  • Awards: Purple Heart, Combat Infantrymans Badge, Korean Service Medal, United Nations Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal, and Republic of Korea War Service Medal
  • Burial/Memorial Location: Ray's Chapel, Dandridge, TN
  • Location In Memorial: Pillar XX, Top Panel
  • Contact us to sponsor Rome H. Hance

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