During the Korean War, the cause of death of Walker, the commander of the US 8th Army, has been debated, with the US claiming that he died in a car accident during the retreat, but the Korean People's Army claiming that Walker was killed by himself. Walker was once the beloved general of the famous four-star general Patton of the US Army, known as a pit bull. The cause of his death aside, Walker was the highest-ranking U.S. general (lieutenant general before his death) to die on the Korean battlefield. So, who was the highest-ranking general captured in the U.S. military in this war?
This man was Major General Dean. Dean graduated from the University of California, Berkeley, served as commander of the U.S. 44th Division during World War II, and was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his distinguished service. After the surrender of Japan, Dean became the commander of the 24th Division, and after becoming an occupying force, the 24th Infantry Division was jokingly called the "Tatami Division" by the Japanese media due to the corruption of long-term life and the retirement of veterans. After the outbreak of the Korean War, MacArthur sent the division to fight on the Korean Peninsula.
Before the war, Dean did not take the Korean People's Army seriously, calling them the "Peasant Army." However, after the war began, the US 24th Division suffered a crushing defeat in Daejeon, and the three main regiments were successively crippled and lost their combat effectiveness. Dean was forced to lead the remnants of the breakout, encountered a guerrilla attack on the way, Dean and the division headquarters abandoned the car and fled into the mountains, and completely lost contact with the troops. One night, Dean went out alone to find water to drink because of thirst, fell into the valley because it was dark, fractured shoulders and ribs, and injured his head, losing consciousness. The entourage looked around and could not find him, so they had to leave.
After waking up, Dean wandered alone in the southern part of Jinshan, eating wild fruits and rat meat for a living, and after 36 days in the mountains, Dean, who was extremely weak, finally found the way out of the mountain. Sadly, however, he was captured by the local guerrillas as soon as he came out of the mountains, and Dean became a prisoner of the Korean People's Army, and he was also the highest-ranking person (major general) among the AMERICAN prisoners of war during the Korean War. Ironically, the U.S. military believed that Dean was dead, and not only held a solemn memorial service for him, but also awarded his "widow" a Congressional Medal of Honor representing the highest honor.
After Dean was captured, the North Koreans took extremely strict secrecy measures to prevent the U.S. military from rescuing him or blowing him to death. Due to his special status, Dean received a lot of preferential treatment, he was placed alone in a small courtyard to watch, and there was someone to take care of his life, where he could move freely, read, practice boxing, do exercises, and live a full life. In early September 1953, Dean was repatriated as a prisoner of war. Despite spending three years in a prisoner-of-war camp, Dean's career was not affected upon his return, but he was promoted to lieutenant general and deputy commander of the 6th Army. Dean died at home on August 24, 1981, at the age of 82.