William Frishe Dean, Sr.; Major General, U.S. Army; Medal of Honor Recipient; WW2 & Korean War
William Frishe Dean was born on 1 August 1899, in Carlyle, IL
Dean, who had been a member of Berkley's Reserve Officer's Training Corps (ROTC), was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the California Army National Guard in 1921, before being given an active duty commission in the infantry on 13 October 1923.
World War II:
Following the United States' entry into World War II, Dean was promoted to the temporary ranks of lieutenant colonel in 1941, and colonel in 1942. He was promoted to brigadier general later that year and made head of the Requirements Division in 1943. He held this office only briefly, before being assigned as Assistant Commander of the 44th Infantry Division, under Major General James I. Muir in late 1943. The division was to sail for the European Theater and Dean went with them despite being injured shortly before departure in a flamethrower accident which claimed the lives of two other soldiers. Dean was promoted to major general in late 1943. The 44th Infantry Division landed in France via Omaha Beach on 15 September 1944. It trained for a month before entering combat on 18 October 1944, when it relieved the 79th Infantry Division in the vicinity of Foret de Parroy, east of Luneville, to take part in the Seventh Army's drive to secure several passes in the Vosges Mountains. The division was hit by a heavy counterattack by forces of Nazi Germany on 25-26 October. The attack was repulsed and the 44th remained in the sector for several weeks. On 13 November 1944, it attacked northeast, advancing through the Vosges Mountains east of Leintrey to Dossenheim, and capturing Avricourt, on 17 November. The division then pushed on to liberate Strasbourg with the French 2nd Armored Division. After regrouping, the 44th Infantry Division returned to the attack, taking Ratzwiller and entering the Ensemble de Bitche along the Maginot Line. When Division Commander Major General Robert L. Spragins was injured and relieved of command in December 1944, Dean was promoted in his place. That month, the division was caught up in the German Army offensive in the Ardennes, the Battle of the Bulge. Fort Simserhof was captured by the Germans on 19 December and the 44th Infantry Division was forced to retreat to defensive positions east of Sarreguemines. On 21-23 December, the 44th threw back three attempted crossings by the Germans of the Blies River. An aggressive defense of the Sarreguemines area was continued throughout February and most of March 1945. The division moved across the Rhine River at Worms, Germany on 26 March, in the wake of the 3rd Infantry Division. The 44th relieved the 3rd on 26-27 March and crossed the Neckar River to attack and capture Mannheim, Germany on 28-29 March. Shifting to the west bank of the Main River, the division crossed that river at Grosse Auheim in early April, and engaged in a three-week training period. Returning to the lines, the division resumed its attack on 18 April in conjunction with the 10th Armored Division, the 44th took Ehingen on 23 April, and crossed the Danube River. It then attacked southeast into Austria, taking Füssen, Berg, and Wertach as part of a drive to Imst. Pursuing the disintegrating German forces through Fern Pass and into Inn Valley, the 44th was in Imst by 4 May. Landeck surrendered on the 5th. Meanwhile, the 19th German Army had surrendered at Innsbruck the same day and the division was involved in processing German prisoners until V-E Day on 8 May. Dean's troops captured 30,000 German prisoners of war in the surrender of the German Army.
Korean War Delaying Action At the outbreak of the Korean War on 25 June 1950, Dean's division was the closest US ground unit to the Korean Peninsula. General of the Army Douglas MacArthur ordered Walker to deploy the division to South Korea as quickly as possible to resist the advancing forces of North Korea. Dean was ordered to send an advance battalion from his division by air to South Korea with a mission to advance as far as possible and resist leading elements of the North Korean People's Army in an effort to delay them as much as possible while the remainder of the division followed by sea. Dean was given command of all US forces in Korea, and his division numbered 15,965 men and 4,773 vehicles at the time. On1 July, Dean organized the 406-man Task Force Smith from components of the 21st Infantry Regiment and ordered it into Korea, as the advance force. As Task Force Smith advanced, Dean himself landed in Taejon on 3 July and set up his command post with Brigadier General John H. Church, the Assistant Division Commander, and Brigadier General George B. Barth, the Division Artillery Commander, as his deputies. Dean ordered Barth forward to act as his forward commander for Task Force Smith, which began digging in at Osan to resist North Korean troops advancing after the capture of Seoul. Task Force Smith was subsequently defeated by North Koreans at the Battle of Osan the next day, and pushed back. With the defeat of Task Force Smith, Dean ordered the 34th Infantry Regiment and other elements of the division to conduct delaying actions south of Osan, but he was disappointed and frustrated by the result. The 34th Infantry was badly defeated in the Battle of Pyongtaek where it only briefly resisted the North Koreans before retreating in disarray. Dean was angered by the poor performance of the 34th Infantry Regiment during the battle. He allegedly was upset that the regiment retreated so quickly without attempting to further delay the North Koreans. He considered ordering the regiment back north immediately but did not do so for fear of ambush. Dean replaced the commander of the 34th Infantry, Colonel Jay B. Lovless, and ordered the 3rd Battalion back north, but when it encountered North Korean resistance it immediately became disorganized and was forced to withdraw. The North Koreans outnumbered Dean's troops, and the US forces had no weapons large enough to destroy the North Korean T-34 tanks. Following the retreat from Pyongtaek, the scattered 1st Battalion, 34th Infantry retreated to Chonan, where the rest of the 34th Infantry Regiment was located. L Company of the 3rd Battalion, 34th Infantry was ordered to probe north of the city and meet the advancing elements of the North Korean 4th Infantry Division which was advancing following its two victories. Dean telegraphed the command from Taejon, ordering the rest of 3rd Battalion, 34th Infantry to move up behind L Company. Regimental commander Lovless moved north to join L Company, along with newly-arrived Colonel Robert R. Martin, a friend of Dean's. Around 1800, Dean ordered Martin to take command of the 34th Infantry Regiment from Lovless. The next morning, 8 July, Dean and Walker arrived to see the outcome of the Battle of Chonan which had begun in the night. They discovered Martin had been killed and the regiment again defeated and fleeing in disarray. He ordered it back to the Kum River. Dean ordered the rest of the 21st Infantry to conduct one final delaying action, and in the Battle of Chochiwon from 10-12 July it delayed the North Koreans before being defeated and forced back to the Kum River. Taejon On 12 July, Dean ordered the division's three regiments-the 19th, 21st and 34th Infantry Regiments-to cross the Kum River, destroying all bridges behind them, and to establish defensive positions around Taejon. Dean formed a line with the 34th Infantry and 19th Infantry facing east, and held the heavily battered 21st Infantry in reserve to the southeast. Taejon stood as a major transportation hub between Seoul and Taegu, giving it great strategic value for both the American and North Korean forces. The division was attempting to make a last stand at Taejon, the last place it could conduct a delaying action before the North Korean forces would converge on the unfinished Pusan Perimeter. The 24th Infantry Division's three infantry regiments, which had a wartime strength of 3,000 each, were already below strength on their deployment, and heavy losses in the preceding two weeks had reduced their numbers further. The 21st Infantry had 1,100 men left, having suffered 1,433 casualties. The 34th Infantry had only 2,020 and the 19th had 2,276 men. Another 2,007 men stood in the 24th Infantry Division artillery formations. These counts placed the division's total strength at 11,400. This was severely reduced from the 15,965 men and 4,773 vehicles that had arrived in Korea at the beginning of the month. The division's 19th and 34th Regiments engaged the North Korean 3rd Division and 4th Division at the Kum River, just west of Taejon. Between 13 July and 16 July, the two regiments suffered 650 casualties among the 3,401 men committed there. On 18 July, Walker ordered Dean to hold Taejon until the 20th so that the 1st Cavalry Division and 25th Infantry Division could establish defensive lines along the Naktong River, forming the Pusan Perimeter. The North Koreans then moved against Taejon. On 19 July, North Korean forces entered Taejon, the site of the 24th Infantry Division's headquarters. Dean personally led the division in its stand at Taejon. The North Koreans quickly surrounded Taejon and moved in on the city from the West, North and South. For two days, the 34th Infantry fought the advancing North Koreans in bitter house-to-house fighting. North Korean soldiers continued to infiltrate the city, often disguised as farmers. The remaining elements of the 24th Infantry Division were pushed back block-by-block. Without radios, and unable to communicate with the remaining elements of the division, Dean joined the men on the front lines, hunting the T-34 tanks with the help of the new shaped-charge, armor-piercing 3.5 inch "Super Bazookas," which had only been in production since two weeks before the war. At one point, Dean personally attacked a tank with a hand grenade, destroying it. He also repeatedly directed the fire of US armor in the city while being exposed to North Korean fire. American forces pulled back gradually after suffering heavy losses, allowing the North Korean 3rd and 4th Divisions to move on the city freely from the north, south, and east roads. The 24th Infantry Division repeatedly attempted to establish its defensive lines, but was repeatedly pushed back by the numerically superior North Koreans. Separation At the end of the day on 20 July, Dean ordered the headquarters of the 34th Infantry to withdraw. Dean remained behind and assisted the US troops in evacuating the city until the last convoy was ready to leave Taejon. As the last convoy of troops moved out of the city and fought through a North Korean roadblock, Dean, with a small force of soldiers, followed them. At the edge of the city, the final elements of the 34th Infantry, leaving the city in 50 vehicles, were ambushed and many of their vehicles were destroyed by machine guns and mortars, forcing the Americans to retreat on foot. In the ensuing fight, Dean's jeep made a wrong turn and was separated from the rest of the American forces. Dean's small force eventually made it out of the city past several North Korean roadblocks. Just outside the city Dean stopped his jeep to tend to several wounded US soldiers in a wrecked truck in the ditch. However, as they attempted to escape further they ran into another North Korean roadblock and were forced to continue on foot, crossing the Taejon River and climbing a nearby mountain. In the confusion, Dean was separated from the group. While he was going after water for a wounded man, Dean fell down a steep slope and was knocked unconscious. When he regained consciousness he found he had a gashed head, a broken shoulder, and many bruises. For 36 days, Dean wandered alone in the mountains trying to reach safety, going without food and medical treatment. Dean, 6 feet tall and 210 pounds before the war, was reduced to 130 pounds as he wandered for the next month. On 25 August, two South Koreans who pretended to be guiding him toward safety led him into a prearranged ambush of North Korean soldiers at Chinan, 35 miles south of Taejon and 65 miles west of Taegu. Dean attempted to fight the North Koreans with his sidearm to make them kill him, but they easily took the weakened Dean prisoner. By 22 July, with Dean still missing, Eighth Army appointed Church as Commander of the 24th Infantry Division and promoted him to major general. Dean was widely believed to have been killed until October 1950, when US forces captured a North Korean soldier named Lee Kyu Hyun near Pyongyang. Lee had been assigned to live with Dean for a month as an interpreter. Lee was interviewed throughout late 1950 but US military leaders still generally thought Dean was dead. Imprisonment Dean was taken to a local police headquarters and kept in a cage overnight. North Korean troops were initially not aware of his identity. Dean was taken to a prison camp in Suwon where he was given food and medical treatment, but he began suffering from diarrhea and dysentery. Dean was then transported to the main North Korean prisoner of war camp in Seoul with other American prisoners. He attempted to keep his identity a secret but he was quickly recognized by a South Korean administrator who had worked under him before the war. Dean was moved to Pyongyang and given a larger living quarters in an underground North Korean facility. He remained sick owing to poorly prepared food. As UN air raids against the North Koreans intensified, Dean was moved to Sunan, north of Pyongyang, to a hut where he lived with several guards. They began daily interrogations primarily aimed at forcing military intelligence from him or making him sign a written condemnation of the UN intervention in Korea, but Dean adamantly refused to do so. Senior North Korean military leaders continued such interrogations through October 1950 but eventually gave up when Dean would not cooperate and was not intimidated by their threats. Dean continued to suffer from illness related to poor food but he was not given another interpreter and was not interrogated after October 1950. North Korean leaders had threatened to harm Dean if he did not cooperate but he was never actually tortured. Dean took to playing chess with his guards often and he was allowed to exercise daily. He was kept alone, however, and never with other American prisoners for the remainder of his confinement. Dean later wrote extensively of his capture and imprisonment in his 1973 autobiography, General Dean's Story. He claimed the North Koreans considered him a war criminal and had many discussions with him about the problems with capitalism in the United States. Dean later said he had tried to commit suicide because he feared he would break under torture and divulge critical intelligence to the North Koreans. He had been aware of the plans for Operation Chromite, and feared he would reveal the information to the North Koreans under torture. Still he remained defiant during interrogations, refusing to divulge any information and acting unafraid, sometimes laughing off threats. He was given better treatment than most UN prisoners in North Korea, as he was regularly fed and rarely subjected to interrogations after his initial capture. He tried several times to escape but failed in doing so. He may have been moved to Manpo when the UN forces took Pyongyang, and returned during when the Chinese People's Liberation Army entered the war and forced the UN forces back. Dean had no contact with the outside world until he was interviewed on 18 December 1951, by an Australian journalist, Wilfred Burchett, who was a correspondent for Le Soir, a Belgian newspaper. Burchett's interview was the first time Dean was definitively confirmed alive and as a prisoner to the rest of the world. Dean recounted the incident in his autobiography with the title, "My friend Wilfred Burchett." From Burchett's visit to the end of the war, Dean claimed in his autobiography he was visited by numerous news correspondents. He claimed to have lived the remainder of his time as a prisoner in relative comfort. After the 27 July 1953 Armistice Agreement, Dean remained in North Korea as a prisoner of war for several more months while the armistice was worked out. He was returned to the UN forces at Panmunjom during Operation Big Switch on 4 September 1953. After the War When Dean returned to the United States, he was treated like a hero and given a number of decorations, including the Medal of Honor, which he did not know he had been awarded. Dean maintained he did not think his own experience was particularly heroic, and asserted he did not feel he deserved an award for his actions in Korea. He was given a ticker-tape parade in New York City on his return to the US on 26 October 1953, and he was made the Grand Marshal of the Tournament of Roses Parade on 1 January 1954.
Death and Burial Major General William Frishe Dean, Sr. died on 24 August 1981, at the age of 82 and was buried in San Francisco National Cemetery in the Presidio of San Francisco. He was survived by his wife, Mildred Dern Dean, who died on 2 October 1988 and is buried next to him.
Source: Military of Honor