Loren George Dubois – Captain, United States Army

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Loren George Du Bois
Eau Claire, Wisconsin
Born May 13, 1925
Captain, U.S. Army
Service Number O-28466
Killed in Action
Died September 19, 1952 in Korea

USMA Class of 1946, Captain Du Bois commanded the Heavy Mortar Company, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division.

On September 19, 1952, just after arriving in Korea, he was traveling to his new command post, when his jeep was struck by an enemy mortar. He was killed instantly.

Captain Du Bois was awarded the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantryman’s 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.

Dubois, Loren George

May 13, 1925 – September 19, 1952
United States Military Academy, Class of 1946

lgdubois Loren George DuBois, NO. 15875 CLASS OF 1946, died 19 September 1952 north of Yonchon, Korea, aged 27 years. Interment: Arlington National Cemetery.

LOREN GEORGE DuBOIS was born 13 May 1925 in Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Growing up in Wisconsin, it is no wonder that Loren loved the outdoors. This love was heightened by the fact that his father was a great outdoorsman and had a cabin on Potato Lake in the woods of Wisconsin. Father and son spent a great deal of time fishing and hunting together. Loren inherited his patience from his father. His sister, Mary, recalls that father and son thought nothing of spending eight to ten hours sitting in a small boat in the middle of the lake and bringing back only six fish. Loren’s mother told his sister  that Loren had wanted to go to West Point since he was five years oId. He marched everywhere he went at that early age. Early on, he was told that a boy from a small town in Wisconsin had a very slim chance of getting into West Point. This was a challenge to Loren who worked very hard in school so he could get into West Point. The DuBois family always had deaf boys living in their home. These boys came from nearby farming communities to attend the school for the deaf in Eau Claire. Loren treated each of those boys as if he were his brother. At Eau Claire High School, from which he graduated as salutatorian, Loren played basketball and tennis, was the senior class treasurer and belonged to many clubs and committees. Loren is still fondly remembered in Eau Claire even though it has been almost 50 years since he left there.

Following high school, Loren attended Eau Claire State Teachers College before he fulfilled his lifelong ambition by receiving an appointment to West Point.

Life as a West Point cadet was relatively uneventful for Loren. Academics gave him some problems plebe year, but by dint of hard work and long hours in the sinks, he made it. His classmates recall that Loren had a marvelous sense of humor, with a quick wit. His roommates H. Lobdell and George Adams recall that he often used his quick wit to needle them. His fun-loving nature caused him not to take the plebe system too seriously, often resulting in attempts by some upperclassmen to make him see the error of his ways. H. Lobdell recalls that unlike most other cadets, and while H. was dragging his future wife, Loren would he fishing at Lusk reservoir, usually without much success. As might be expected. Loren was active in the clubs that paralleled his interests in the outdoors: fishing, skiing and skeet. Graduation saw Loren go into the Infantry.

Following the standard courses at Fort Benning, Georgia. Loren was assigned to the 7th Cavalry Regiment, Ist Cavalry Division in Tokyo, Japan. Loren had troop duty with the 7th and ended up commanding a company before he left Japan. It was while he was stationed in Tokyo that Loren met Helen Mitchell Tindall. Helen was there as a dependent of her father, Brigadier General Richard G. Tindall.  Loren and Helen were married in Tokyo, 12 May 1948. Their first child, daughter Barbara, was born in Tokyo in March 1949. In December 1949, Loren and Helen returned to CONUS with  assignment on the staff of the Officer Candidate School at Fort Riley, Kansas. Classmate, Dick Pitzer, who was at Riley at the same time, recalls a dinner-bridge club to which both couples belonged.

In October 1951, Loren had the opportunity to go back to Eau Claire on leave. His brother John was then in high school and a member of the local Rod and Gun Club. As such, he had been given a dozen full-grown male pheasants to be placed in some appropriate wild spot. He selected a “swamp” location where he and Loren had often hunted with their father. That area had a few native pheasants but not many. When Loren suggested going pheasant hunting while on leave, John took him to the swamp without telling him about the 12 birds he had inserted there. Needless to say, they had the best pheasant hunting either had ever had, going back the second day to again get their “limit.” Loren never knew the origin of the pheasants in that area, but John recalls it was certainly the highlight of his last leave in his hometown.

Loren and Helen had a second child, son Loren, Jr., at Fort Riley on 19 February l951. With the Korean War already underway for 20 months, Loren was anxious to get over there to get combat experience. In May 1952 he got his wish, with orders to Korea with a stop at Fort Benning, Georgia, at the Infantry School en route.

When Loren arrived in Korea, he was scheduled to become company commander of the Heavy Mortar Company of the 38th Regiment of the 2nd Infantry Division. At that time the 38th Infantry was on the right flank of I Corps and was in the process of defending the Old Baldy outpost against an attack by an estimated Chinese battalion reinforced with tanks. This action took place on 18 September 1952, the day the S-l of the 38th, Paul Wheaton (USMA ’45) picked up Loren at 2nd Division Headquarters and took him to the headquarters of the 38th Infantry. On the l8th, Loren received his orientation, met the staff and dined with the regimental commander. The next morning Loren was picked up by the outgoing commander of the Heavy Mortar Company who had jeeped back from his CP. The jeep with the new and old commanders headed back to the company CP and was traveling on the main supply route behind a mountain out of direct vision of the front. A Chinese artillery round struck the jeep and Loren was killed instantly. He was survived by his wife, daughter Barbara, son Loren, Jr., his mother, sister and brother.

Loren DuBois was a person everyone liked. His friendly, easygoing personality made it easy for him to make friends. He loved his young children and was a wonderful father to them. A bright young officer, Loren loved the Army and wanted to be the best he could be as a troop leader. He had so much to offer to the Army and to his country. He lived his short Army life by the ideals of West Point; Duty, Honor, Country were his guideposts as he met the challenges confronting a young Infantry officer. The memory of Loren George DuBois will forever remain with his family, friends and classmates. It is fitting to say, “Well Done Loren, Be Thou at Peace!”

’46 Memorial Article Project and his wife Helen.

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