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Remember...Edward Paul Juristy
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Edward Paul Juristy was born August 1, 1928, to John and Bertha Juristy of Greene County, Pennsylvania. At the time of the 1930 Federal Census, the family lived in Bobtown, Pennsylvania. Mr. Juristy, a native of Austria, was a coal miner. Mrs. Juristy, born in Pennsylvania of Austrian parents, worked in the home. Mr. and Mrs. Juristy had two sons, Walter and Edward, both born in Pennsylvania.
By the time of the 1940 census, the family lived near Pursglove in Monongalia County, West Virginia. Mr. Juristy was a timber man in the coal mines. The family had doubled its size: Walter and Edward were joined by siblings Frank, Helen, John, and Alice. John and Alice, the two youngest at ages four and one, were born in West Virginia. When the time came, Edward attended Osage Junior High School, and he worked at the Chaplin Coal Company, where he was employed at the time of the draft. His draft card shows he was six feet tall, with blue eyes and brown hair.
Edward Juristy was drafted into the U.S. Army on December 4, 1950. He was sent overseas in April after a furlough. He served with Company G of the 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division during the Korean War, according to the Fairmont Times-West Virginian ("Local Soldier, Edward Juristy, Killed in Action in Korean War," July 8, 1951) and the memorial headstone application later filled out by his mother.
The 25th Infantry Division was serving an occupation duty on a Japanese island when North Korean forces invaded the Republic of Korea on June 25, 1950. The advance party landed at Pusan on July 8, 1950. The entire division was in Korea by July 18th. (U.S. Army Center of Military History, "25th Infantry Division [Tropic Lightning] in the Korean War," accessed 30 October 2017, http://www.history.army.mil/documents/Korea/25id-KW-IP.htm.)
Pfc. Edward Juristy did not join the Division until April 1951 as a light weapons infantryman. In this time frame, according to The U.S. Army Center of Military History site, the 25th was in action in the Republic of Korea, but then crossed the 38th parallel into North Korea:
On 22 April the Chinese launched another offensive, again pushing the UN forces back. The 25th Division fell back through successive blocking positions to a line about five miles northeast of Seoul. There the division prepared for another UN offensive, which was launched on 20 May 1951. The 25th progressed through a series of planned phase lines, crossed the 38th Parallel, and captured the "Iron Triangle" town of Kumhwa by the middle of June. On 21 June the 25th Division was relieved by the 3d Infantry Division and placed in reserve near Uijongbu, where it prepared positions along a secondary defensive line and conducted training and rear area security missions.
 Edward's headstone |
Pfc. Edward Juristy was killed in action on June 6, 1951 in North Korea, according to the listing for Pfc. Juristy in Korean War Dead and Army Wounded. (Accessed 30 October 2017, https://www.familysearch.org/wiki/en/United_States,_Korean_War_Dead_and_Army_Wounded_(FamilySearch_Historical_Records.) He was buried in East Oak Grove Cemetery in Morgantown, West Virginia, where his parents would also be interred. |  Close-up of Edward's headstone |
 Mother's headstone |
 Father's headstone |
East Oak Grove Cemetery, Morgantown, WV |
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Article and photos prepared by Cynthia Mullens
July 2017
West Virginia Archives and History welcomes any additional information that can be provided about these veterans, including photographs, family names, letters and other relevant personal history.
