Remember...
Gene Dempsey Totten
1928-1950
"All wars are civil wars, because all men are brothers."
Francois Fenelon
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Remember...Gene Dempsey Totten
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Gene Dempsey Totten was born in Seth, Boone County, West Virginia, on March 21, 1928. At the age of two, he was living in Marsh Fork, Raleigh County, West Virginia, and then later moved to Sherman, West Virginia. Gene was one of five children of Floyd J. Totten and Goldie E. Totten. Gene had four brothers: James S. Totten, William M. Totten, Floyd K. Totten, and Daniel M. Totten. Gene also had one sister, Betty J. Totten. (Family information is from 1930 and 1940 Federal Census documents.) Gene was born right before the Great Depression. The Great Depression impacted most countries all over the world. West Virginia was one of the hardest hit states in the U.S. by the Great Depression of 1929-1941. (Jerry Bruce Thomas, "The Great Depression," e-WV: The West Virginia Encyclopedia, 9 August 2012, accessed 3 October 2023, https://www.wvencyclopedia.org/articles/2155.)
In 1948, two years before his disappearance in Korea, he had married a beautiful woman by the name of Catherine Marie Spear Fisher. They had a son together and Catherine named him after his father (who was missing in action at the time of his birth). Gene Dempsey Totten Jr. was born in 1949 and died in 1996.
Sergeant Gene Dempsey Totten, who joined the U.S. Army from West Virginia, served with the Heavy Mortar Company, 21st Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was in Korea in the early days of the Korean War. The Korean War began in June 1950, and the conflict was declared ended July 27, 1953. The war between North and South Korea was territorial, with both countries claiming rights to the same piece of land. The U.S. fought in support of South Korea.
Sgt. Totten went missing during the Battle of the Pusan Perimeter on September 4, 1950. He was just 22 years old. The Battle of Pusan Perimeter was a large-scale battle between United Nations and North Korean forces lasting from August 4 to September 28, 1950. The Pusan Perimeter was a 140-mile defensive line around the southeastern tip of the Korean peninsula. It was one of the first major battles in the Korean War. An army of 140,000 United Nations troops, being pushed to the brink of defeat, were rallied to make a final stand against the invading North Korean Army of 98,000 men. At the end of the battle, each side had over 60,000 casualties of those killed, wounded, or captured. ("Battle of the Pusan Perimeter," Wikipedia, accessed 3 October 2023, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_the_Pusan_Perimeter.)
Sgt. Gene Dempsey Totten's personnel profile compiled by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) states:
On August 27, 1950, the U.S. Eighth Army's commander sent the 21st Infantry Regiment northeast to the town of Angang-ni to bolster collapsing Republic of Korea (ROK) Army units in that area. The North Korean Peoples Army entered the town on September 4, and Company G of the 2nd Battalion, 21st Infantry, found itself almost surrounded by the enemy. The company managed to slip out of town and rejoin the 2nd Battalion to the south, which had received orders to withdraw to Kyongju and reunite with the rest of 21st Infantry. Troops of the 2nd Battalion had to fight their way to several enemy roadblocks, but most of the battalion managed to get to Kyongju, only to discover that Company G was once again missing. The battalion commander took a group of soldiers back north, located the beleaguered company and led them back to Kyongju, which by then was under attack as well. (Accessed 3 October 2023, https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000009beRiEAI.)
| More than 36,000 American soldiers lost their lives for our country during the Korean War, and each one is remembered in our hearts. Sgt. Totten's remains have never been accounted for, but the DPAA considers his case to be in the category of "active pursuit." He is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii. He is also memorialized at the National Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. In West Virginia he is memorialized at the Donel C. Kinnard Memorial State Veterans Cemetery located in Institute, Kanawha County, West Virginia. |  |
Gene's commendations and awards include the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Marksmanship Badge, the Korean Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Republic of Korea Presidential Citation, the Republic of Korea War Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the Army Presidential Unit Citation, and the Army Good Conduct Medal. ("Gene D Totten," HonorStates.org website, accessed 3 October 2023, https://www.honorstates.org/profiles/213666/.)
Article prepared by Caroline Kuhn
August 2023
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.