I am remembering Don Carlos Faith today, an incredible Army officer who earned the Medal of Honor posthumously for his leadership and courage in the Korean War, when he led his battalion and disparate Army troops in a fighting withdrawal to Hagu-Ri.

Faith, the son of an Army general, went to Georgetown University because he was medically unfit for West Point. However, with World War II approaching, Faith found his way into the Army and fought with the 82nd Airborne Division across North Africa, Italy and Northern Europe. 

Faith earned two Bronze Stars and jumped in all of the 82nd Airborne’s World War II combat drops and was a Lieutenant-Colonel by War’s end. By 1950, he was a battalion commander with the 7th Infantry Division in Japan.

By late 1950, Faith and his battalion were in far northern Korea when the Communist Chinese troops entered the War. The 7th Infantry Division attempted to rapidly pull back to defensible positions. When the 31st Regimental Combat Team’s commanding officer, Colonel Allan MacLean, was killed, Faith assumed responsibility for the regiment.

Personally leading many attacks against Chinese Communist roadblocks, Faith was wounded multiple times. 

Faith was left behind by retreating Americans and his body was not recovered until 2012 and he buried at Arlington National Cemetery the next year. 

Please honor and remember this great American. We need to tell stories about leaders like Don Carlos Faith to our children.