William F . Dean William Frishe Dean , Sr . ( August 1 , 1899August 24 , 1981 ) was a United States Army major general during World War II and the Korean War . He received the Medal of Honor for his actions on July 20 and 21 , 1950 , during the Battle of Taejon in South Korea . Dean was also the highest ranking American officer captured by the North Koreans during the Korean War . Born in Illinois , Dean attended the University of California at Berkeley before graduating with a commission in the US Army through the Reserve Officer ' s Training Corps ( ROTC ) in 1921 . Slowly rising up the ranks in the inter - war years , Dean worked a desk job in Washington D . C . for much of World War II before being transferred to the 44th Infantry Division which he later commanded during the final days of the war , and was awarded a Distinguished Service Cross . Dean is known for commanding the 24th Infantry Division at the outbreak of the Korean War . Dean led the division for several weeks in unsuccessful delaying battles against the North Koreans , before he led his division in making a last stand at Taejon . During the confused retreat from that city , Dean was separated from his soldiers and badly injured , and was eventually captured by the North Koreans . He remained in North Korean custody near P ' yongyang for the remainder of the war . After the end of the conflict , Dean returned to the United States to a hero ' s welcome . He retired from the Army soon after and lived a quiet life until his death . Early life and education . Dean was born on August 1 , 1899 , in Carlyle , Illinois to Charles Watts Dean , who worked as a dentist , and Elizabeth Frishe Dean , who was of German descent . William Dean had two siblings , a brother named David and a sister named Elizabeth . Dean states in his biography his interest in the military began at a very young age , upon seeing the United States Military Academy cadets in the 1904 Saint Louis Exposition performing military drill . In his childhood , Dean was interested in physical fitness , and began weightlifting and running , activities he would continue throughout much of his life . His first jobs included selling magazines for spending money . Growing up in Carlyle , Dean was the town ' s main paperboy for " The Saturday Evening Post " . After graduating from high school , Dean applied to the military academy , but was rejected . He then tried to enlist in the United States Army during World War I , but he was too young to do so without his parents ' permission , and his mother refused . Dean instead attended University of California at Berkeley studying pre - law . During this time , he also took a variety of side jobs , including a stevedore at the San Francisco docks , a motorman , and briefly as a patrolman for the Berkeley Police Department , where he worked under police chief August Vollmer . Dean originally sought to attain a Doctor of Law degree but only completed a Bachelor of Arts degree from Berkley in 1922 before joining the Army . Career . Inter - war career . Dean , who had been a member of Berkley ' s 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 October 13 , 1923 . His first assignment was to the US 38th Infantry Regiment , 3rd Infantry Division at Fort Douglas , Utah . During this posting , Dean took an interest in polo ponies , owning and training several of his own . Dean was moved to the Panama Canal Zone in 1926 , coaching boxing and basketball teams though not competing himself . Dean returned to Fort Douglas in 1929 before attending the United States Army Infantry School at Fort Benning , Georgia and then serving with a tank battalion before taking a course at the tank school . In 1932 , Dean was assigned to the US 30th Infantry Regiment , 3rd Infantry Division on the US West Coast . During this time , Dean also served in the Civilian Conservation Corps ( CCC ) as commander of Camp Hackamore in northern California . Dean was then moved to the CCC headquarters in Redding , California . Following these appointments , Dean attended the US Army Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth , Kansas before being assigned to a post on Oahu , Hawaii for two years . Following this stint , Dean attended the Armed Forces Industrial College at Fort McNair , Washington D . C . and then the field officer ' s course at the Chemical Warfare school in the United States Army War College at Carlisle Barracks . Dean was promoted to captain in 1936 , and major in 1940 . Upon this promotion , Dean was assigned to Washington D . C . on the United States Department of War on the General Staff , first as a junior member , then as assistant secretary , then as executive officer in the Requirement Division of the Ground Forces Headquarters , a department concerned with the acquisition of new weapons and electronics , and training literature . World War II . Following the United States ' entry into World War II , Dean was promoted to the temporary rank 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 US 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 September 15 , 1944 . It trained for a month before entering combat on October 18 , 1944 , when it relieved the US 79th Infantry Division in the vicinity of Foret de Parroy , east of Luneville , to take part in the Seventh United States Army drive to secure several passes in the Vosges Mountains . The division was hit by a heavy counterattack by forces of Nazi Germany on October 25 – 26 . The attack was repulsed and the 44th remained in the sector for several weeks . On November 13 , 1944 , it attacked northeast , advancing through the Vosges Mountains east of Leintrey to Dossenheim , and capturing Avricourt , on November 17 . 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 to command the division . That month , the division was caught up in the German Army offensive in the Alsace , known as Operation Nordwind . Fort Simserhof was captured by the Germans on December 19 and the 44th Infantry Division was forced to retreat to defensive positions east of Sarreguemines . On December 21 – 23 , the 44th threw back three attempts by the Germans to cross 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 March 26 , in the wake of the 3rd Infantry Division . The 44th relieved the 3rd on March 26 – 27 and crossed the Neckar River to attack and capture Mannheim , Germany on March 28 – 29 . 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 period of training . Returning to the lines , the division resumed its attack on April 18 in conjunction with the US 10th Armored Division , the 44th took Ehingen on April 23 , 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 May 4 . The city of Landeck surrendered on May 5 . 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 May 8 . Dean ' s troops took 30 , 000 prisoners of war in the surrender of the German army . Dean was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross , the Legion of Merit , and the Army Distinguished Service Medal for his leadership of the division during the war . After a short period of occupation duty , the 44th Infantry Division returned to the United States in July 1945 where it began training for deployment to the Pacific Theater . As part of Operation Coronet it was intended that Dean would lead the division during the planned invasion of Honshū , but the war came to an end before this took place and the operation was subsequently cancelled . Dean then oversaw the drawdown of the division until he was relieved of command on November 1 , 1945 . The 44th Infantry Division was disbanded by the end of that month . Post - World War II . After he was relieved of command of the 44th Infantry Division , Dean was assigned to Fort Leavenworth again to organize and direct command classes . In October 1947 , Dean was appointed the commander of military forces in South Korea , deputy to military governor Lieutenant General John R . Hodge , the commander of the United States Army Military Government in Korea . This job was temporary as the US forces transitioned the South Koreans to independence . Headquartered in Seoul , Dean maintained political control of the country until August 15 , 1948 when the new South Korean government was elected and the occupation ended . Dean was then made commander of the US 7th Infantry Division , overseeing its movement from South Korea to bases in Japan as part of the Occupation of Japan . By January 1949 , Dean and his division were in Sapporo , Japan on the island of Hokkaido . He was moved to Yokohama in May 1949 to serve as chief of staff to the Eighth United States Army under Lieutenant General Walton Walker . In October 1949 Dean returned to division command when he took command of the US 24th Infantry Division in Kokura , Kyushu . Korean War . Delaying action . At the outbreak of the Korean War on June 25 , 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 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 . On July 1 , Dean organized the 406 - man Task Force Smith from components of the US 21st Infantry Regiment and ordered it into Korea , as the advance force . As Task Force Smith advanced , Dean himself landed in Taejon on July 3 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 US 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 fearing the unit would be ambushed . 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 heavy 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 . Former regimental commander Lovless moved north to join L Company , along with newly arrived Colonel Robert R . Martin , a friend of Dean ' s . Around 18 : 00 , Dean ordered Martin to take command of the 34th Infantry Regiment from Lovless . The next morning , July 8 , 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 July 10 – 12 it delayed the North Koreans before being defeated and forced back to the Kum River . Taejon . On July 12 , Dean ordered the division ' s three regiments — the US 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 sides . The division was attempting to make a stand at Taejon , the last place it could conduct a delaying action before the North Korean forces could 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 . There were another 2 , 007 men in the 24th Infantry Division artillery formations . Thus the division ' s total strength was 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 19th and 34th Regiments engaged the North Korean 3rd Division and 4th Division at the Kum River , just west of Taejon . Between July 13 and July 16 , the two regiments suffered 650 casualties among the 3 , 401 men committed there . On July 18 , Walker ordered Dean to hold Taejon until July 20 so that the US 1st Cavalry Division and US 25th Infantry Division could establish defensive lines along the Naktong River , forming the Pusan Perimeter . The North Koreans then moved against Taejon . On July 19 , 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 the city and moved in 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 put into production 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 west roads . The 24th Infantry Division repeatedly attempted to establish its defensive lines , but was repeatedly pushed back by the numerically superior enemy . Separation . At the end of the day on July 20 , 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 . The tall Dean who had weighed before the war was reduced to as he wandered for the next month . On August 25 , two South Koreans who pretended to be guiding him toward safety led him into a prearranged ambush of North Korean soldiers at Chinan , south of Taejon and 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 July 22 , with Dean still missing , Eighth Army appointed Church 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 P ' yongyang . 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 P ' yongyang 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 P ' yongyang , 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 was 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 P ' yongyang , and returned 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 December 18 , 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 July 27 , 1953 , Dean remained in North Korea as a prisoner of war for several more weeks while the armistice was worked out . He was returned to the UN forces at Panmunjom during Operation Big Switch on September 4 , 1953 . Later life and death . When Dean returned to the United States , he received a hero ' s welcome and was presented with a number of decorations , including the Medal of Honor , which he was unaware 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 October 26 , 1953 , and he was made the Grand Marshal of the Tournament of Roses Parade on January 1 , 1954 . Three months after his return from Korea , Dean was assigned as the Deputy Commanding General of the Sixth United States Army at the Presidio of San Francisco in California . Dean held this post for two years until he retired from active duty on October 31 , 1955 . Upon retirement , although technically ineligible under US Army Regulations , Dean was awarded the Combat Infantryman Badge for his front line service in World War II and Korea . Dean lived a quiet life in San Francisco after retirement . He died on August 24 , 1981 , at the age of 82 and was buried in San Francisco National Cemetery in the Presidio of San Francisco , next to his wife . Personal life . Dean met Mildred Dern of Salt Lake City , Utah when one of Dern ' s friends was injured in a fall from one of Dean ' s polo ponies during his 1923 – 1926 tour at Fort Douglas . The two were married in 1926 . The couple had two children , Majorie June Dean , born in 1927 and William Dean , Jr . , born 1929 . June married Robert Williams , a US Army Captain , while William Jr . attended West Point Academy in 1950 . Dean maintained an athletic lifestyle for much of his life , picking up weightlifting and running when he was young , coaching basketball and , in his later years , he played tennis . He maintained a steady athletic regimen for the majority of his life , even insisting upon it during his imprisonment . In his later life , Dean maintained a self - deprecating outlook on his actions in Korea , and maintained he did not feel he deserved the Medal of Honor . Of his time in Korea , Dean later said , " I wouldn ' t have awarded myself a wooden star for what I did as a commander . " In his autobiography , he opted instead to highlight the command decisions he regretted making and contend , " There were heroes in Korea , but I was not one of them . " Awards and decorations . Dean was decorated numerous times for his World War II and Korean War service . These awards are now on display at the University of California , Berkeley . Medal of Honor citation . In 1951 , Congress voted to award Dean the Medal of Honor for his actions during the defense of Taejon . The Medal was presented by US President Harry S . Truman on February 16 , 1951 to Dean ' s wife , son William Dean Jr . and daughter Marjorie June Dean . Dean himself was still reported missing in action in Korea and thought to be dead . Legacy . Dean was the highest ranking UN prisoner of war of the Korean War . He was also the highest ranking Medal of Honor recipient . His story of capture and imprisonment by the North Koreans was recorded by numerous publications . His initial capture was covered by " Life Magazine " in July 1950 with a photo essay detailing his life . In December 1951 , when he was discovered to be alive , " TIME Magazine " did an article on his story and imprisonment , featuring an image of him on the magazine ' s front cover . He subsequently received more attention from the press . Multiple media outlets attempted to interview Dean but the North Koreans rarely allowed it . Few photos and little information on his status was released , mostly that which showed him in good condition . After his release , Dean ' s story , as well as Lee ' s , was told in " Life Magazine " . Dean was memorialized in several ways for his actions . The T - 34 tank Dean knocked out remained where it was destroyed in Taejon until 1977 as a memorial to the fight . In his hometown of Carlyle , a newly renovated bridge was named the General Dean Suspension Bridge in 1953 . It was inducted into the National Register of Historic Places in 1973 . After Dean ' s death , his uniform and personal items were donated to the University of California at Berkeley ROTC program . The ROTC created a memorial for Dean in the Hearst Gym on campus , designating Room 155 " The Dean Room . " Dean ' s uniform and medals , including his Medal of Honor , have been housed there . The university ' s Cal Alumni Association also selected Dean as their 1953 " Alumnus of the Year . "