| Home Surname List Name Index Sources | Ninth Generation6198. Sgt Philip Warren ACKLEY3503 was born on 4 March 1915 in Hillsborough , New Hampshire.5,1751,3479,3775 He appeared in the census in 1920 in New Hampshire. On 24 February 1941he Enlisted in Manchester, Hillsborough, New Hampshire, United States2306 Philip W Ackley Nashua World War II Army veteran was reported missing in action in Korea since November 2, according to a telegram from the Defense department received by his wife, Mrs Alice C Ackley of 27 Broad St, Sixty years later those fallen soldiers, the lost battalion of Unsan, are stranded anew. North Korea is offering fresh clues to their remains. American teams are ready to re-enter the north to dig for them. But for five years the U.S. government has refused to work with North Korea to recover the men of Unsan and others among more than 8,000 U.S. missing in action from the 1950-53 war. Now, under pressure from MIA family groups, the Obama administration is said to be moving slowly to reverse the Bush administration's suspension of the joint recovery program, a step taken in 2005 as the North Korean nuclear crisis dragged on. "If I had a direct line in to the president, I would say, 'Please reinstitute this program. There are families that need closure,'" said Ruth Davis, 61, of Palestine, Texas, whose uncle, Sgt. 1st Class Benny Don Rogers, has been listed as MIA since Chinese attackers overran his company — I Company, 8th Cavalry — at Unsan in late 1950. It was one of Rogers' I Company comrades, Pfc. Philip W. Ackley of Hillsboro, New Hampshire, whose identifying dog tag appeared in a photo the North Koreans handed over at Korea's Panmunjom truce village in January of this 60th year since the war started. The North Koreans also delivered photos of remains, a stark reminder that Unsan's dead still wait to come home. The U.S. "has developed the humanitarian issue into a political problem," complained a North Korean statement urging resumption of the MIA search project, which earned hard currency for the Pyongyang government. The devastating losses at Unsan, in early November 1950, came as China intervened to fend off a final North Korean defeat. In a last letter home, dated Oct. 30, Rogers told his parents, "It is a lot better over here, but it's not over yet." The U.S. command had ignored intelligence reports that China's army was moving south, and Rogers and the 8th Cavalry had been sent too far north, just 80 kilometers (50 miles) from China, where they stumbled into a closing enemy vise. Higher headquarters rejected requests for a pullback, then refused to send artillery forward to support a rescue effort. Finally, it ordered the rescue force withdrawn. Two of the 8th Cavalry's three battalions managed to escape, with heavy losses. But only small bands from the five companies of the doomed 3rd Battalion made it out as waves of Chinese infantry attacked their 200-meter-wide (200-yard-wide) defense perimeter. The 8th Cavalry's abandonment at Unsan became an infamous chapter in Army annals — "one of the most shameful and little-known incidents in U.S. military history," wrote Korean War historian Jack J. Gifford. Some 600 of the 3rd Battalion's 800 men were lost, about half believed killed and half captured, many of whom died in Chinese-run prison camps. The U.S. and North Korea established the MIA search in 1996 after lengthy negotiations. Over nine years, working across North Korea, the joint teams recovered 229 sets of remains believed to be those of Americans, including 14 subsequently identified as 3rd Battalion men. But an estimated 260 U.S. dead are still unaccounted for at Unsan, among almost 4,600 U.S. MIAs in North Korea, the Pentagon's Defense POW/MIA Office says. When then-Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld suspended the program in 2005, officials cited what they said were concerns about the security of American personnel working on the territory of a longtime U.S. adversary. Richard Lawless, the former Pentagon official who recommended the move, defends it today, telling The Associated Press it was a "prudent decision" because the U.S. field teams "were potential high-value hostages as the North Korean nuclear crisis deepened." The MIA support groups rejected that rationale, saying they suspected President George W. Bush's administration instead wanted to break the lone working link with North Korea and pressure Pyongyang in the nuclear showdown. "This safety aspect from the Pentagon sounds like so much hogwash," said former 3rd Battalion sergeant Robert J. Earl, 82, of Federal Way, Washington. Earl was not at Unsan, having been wounded earlier, and for years he has sought information on his 8th Cavalry mortar platoon, all of whom may have Stepping up their lobbying in Washington last year, the MIA families appear to have made headway with the new administration. "I'm in touch with everyone there, and they all support restoring the program," said Frank Metersky, 77, a Marine veteran of the war and longtime MIA campaigner. Larry Greer, spokesman for the Defense POW/MIA Office, said officials are "evaluating" a possible resumption. Other administration officials have pointedly referred to the recovery program as a humanitarian mission unrelated to political considerations. But the recent furor over North Korea's alleged torpedoing of a South Korean warship "has stopped everything in its tracks for now," Metersky said. Nevertheless, U.S. specialists sound ready. "We are prepared to resume operations in (North Korea) and will request access to the Unsan area," the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command in Hawaii, home to the field teams, said in its latest annual report. Its forensic experts, meanwhile, continue the laborious work of DNA identification of remains returned years ago, like those of Master Sgt. Roy Earl Head of the 7th Infantry Division, finally identified, brought home and buried June 5 in a family cemetery in Grit Hill, Virginia. "It's remarkable, after 59 years," said brother David Head, 71, of Kingsport, Tennessee. All his life he thought daily about Roy, he said. His mind turned sympathetically to others. "There are still a lot more families out there who might not ever find out, or get the closure we will get," Head said. Philip was buried in Monument at, Honolulu, Honolulu , Hawaii.3500,3775,4070 He had Social Security Number 003-05-8003 NH.1751 He served in the military Koean War in I Co 8TH REGIMENT 1ST CAVALRY DIVISION.4070 Korean WarPhilip Enlisted in New Hampshire4070 He served in the military Medical Department WW II in New Hampshire National Guard.2306 Sgt Philip Warren ACKLEY and Alice Maude CONVERSE were married about 1948.912,1631 Alice Maude CONVERSE, daughter of Walter Charles CONVERSE and Effie Maude WENTWORTH, was born on 30 September 1910 in Hollis, Hillsborough, New Hampshire.40,839,1751,3893 She appeared in the following News Article from the Nashua Telegraph on 31 July 1948 in Nashua, Hillsborough, New Hampshire, United States ALICE CONVERSE ENGAGED TO WED PHILIP ACKLEY Mr and Mrs Walter C. Converse of Amherst, announce the engagement of their daughter, Alice M to Cpl Philip W Ackley, U S Army, son of Mr and Mrs Fred Ackley of 27 Broad St, this city. Miss Alice Maude Converse, daughter of Mr and Mrs Walter Converse of Amherst, became the bride of Philip W. Ackley, son of Mrs Fred Ackley of 7 Broad st and the late Fred Ackley at the Amherst Baptist church Saturday afternoon, Sept 25, at 2.30 o'clock. Rev Denton J. Neily officiated at the double ring ceremony. The bride, who was given in marriage by her father, wore for her wedding a gown of white satin, fashioned with sweetheart neckline, long sleeves, full skirt, her lace trimmed finger-tip veil falling from a crown of orange blossoms. She carried a traditional bridal bouquet of white flowers. Mrs Ernestine Prior, sister of the bride, served as her matron of honor, wearing a blue satin gown fashioned as the bride's gown and carrying a bouquet of pink roses. Jane Russell of Greenfield, niece of the bride, served as flower girl for the wedding wearing a pink satin gown and carrying an old fashioned bouquet of flowers. Ringbearer was Dana Russell, nephew of the bride, also of Greenfield. Best man for the wedding was Howard Converse, brother of the bride, and ushers were Norman Stevens, of Nashua, nephew of the bridegroom, Albert Prior, brother, in-law of the bride, of Nashua; George Russell, of Greenfield, brother-in-law of the bride and Robert Jewett, of Mt Vernon, cousin of the bride. | Mrs Converse, mother of the :bride, wore for her daughter's .wedding an orchid printed dress :with black accessories and a corsage of white flowers and Mrs Ackley, mother of the bride- groom, wore a maroon chiffon dress with black accessories and a corsage of white flowers. Reception was held at the home of the bride's parents following the wedding ceremony; and after a wedding trip the, couple are living in Amherst Alice lived 27 Broad St in Nashua, Hillsborough, New Hampshire, United States between 1955 and 1959.3501,3502 She died on 23 September 2000 at the age of 89 in Milford, Hillsborough, New Hampshire, United States.40,1751,3269 died at Harborside Crestwood Healthcare Center She was a Manchester Savings Bank in Manchester, Hillsborough, New Hampshire, United States.839 worked at bank for 30 years Alice had Social Security Number 003-12-6647 NH. Her Obituary appeared in the Alice Maude Ackley |