From a young age, Don Faith Jr. enjoyed a well-traveled life. His father, Don Faith Sr., was a decorated World War I Army general who spent much of his career at bases in China, the Philippines, Georgia, and Washington, DC. The family, which included Faith’s mother and two younger brothers, moved frequently. 

As a teenager, Faith excelled in athletics, including football, tennis, track, and the Rifle Club at Highlands High School in Fort Thomas, Kentucky. But his dream was to attend the U.S. Military Academy at West Point. After graduating in 1937, Faith applied to West Point, but was disqualified due to a medical issue. He decided to attend Georgetown University in Washington, DC., where his father worked as director of veterans education. In June 1941, with the U.S. on the verge of World War II, Faith reapplied for the military and was again denied due to the same medical issue. Undeterred, he appealed his case and was allowed to enlist in the Army on June 25, 1941. 

After completing Officer Candidate School, Faith became a second lieutenant and received an assignment to the 82nd Airborne Division. He was briefly stationed at Camp Claiborne, Louisiana, where he met his wife, Barbara. In November 1942, they married; they would later have a daughter, Bobbie. 

Following World War II, in 1948, then-Lieutenant Colonel Faith received an assignment to China. This was to be short-lived. With the Korean War looming, Faith received assignment to Japan in June 1950, and a couple of months later, Faith and his battalion were sent to Korea. 

A Cold Winter’s Battle 

On November 27, 1950, during one of the harshest and coldest winters ever recorded in Korea, Faith and his 1st Battalion were encircled by 100,000 Chinese troops at the Chosin Reservoir. This event would be remembered as one of the deadliest battles of the war. With temperatures dipping into negative numbers, Faith and his troops had trouble firing their weapons and staying warm, and were unable to dig shelters because the ground was frozen solid. Little did they know that this was only the beginning of what would become a 5-day mission to get to safety. 

As enemy forces began a vicious attack, Faith led counterattacks to recover breached positions amid heavy ammunition from all sides. When he realized that the nearby 31st Regimental Combat Team needed help, Faith developed a plan to stun enemy forces and lead his unit and the 31st across the frozen reservoir. Faith did not cross the reservoir until every soldier — and the vehicles full of wounded men — had first made it safely to the other side. With two large battalions under his command, Faith took up a new mission: to withdraw his soldiers to Hagaru-ri, which was 14 miles south, to join additional friendly forces. Despite the bitter cold, dwindling supplies, and overwhelming physical exhaustion, Faith organized his men and instructed them to fight back against the enemy forces.  

Dodging small-arms fire, Faith led another attack through rows of enemy troops. But as they came to a hairpin curve, Faith’s men were again trapped by enemy fire. So Faith led another attack on the enemy by firing his pistol and launching several grenades at close range. About 30 yards from the roadblock, Faith was severely wounded by shrapnel, but continued fighting until the roadblock was abolished. Faith died from his injuries on December 1, 1950, and in the utter chaos of retreat, his body was left behind. 

A Long-Awaited Homecoming 

For his fearless leadership, incredible courage, and gallant sacrifice, Faith was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor on June 21, 1951. His wife, Barbara, and his daughter, Bobbie, accepted it on his behalf. Several of the men in Faith’s battalion told Bobbie that they would have followed Faith anywhere, adding that they were alive due to Faith’s unwavering commitment and selfless sacrifice. But it would be another 62 years before his remains were repatriated. 

Decades after the end of the Korean War, more than 7,485 Americans are still missing. Bobbie became the major force driving efforts to bring her father’s remains home. In 2004, a small U.S. investigations team was allowed to survey a mass grave near the Chosin Reservoir, where several boxes of remains were exhumed. In 2012, after several years of careful examination and DNA matching, Bobbie received a phone call that her father had been identified. On April 17, 2013, Faith’s remains were put to rest at Arlington National Cemetery during a burial with full military honors. 

“What I recall most about my father was that he was happy,” Bobbie said in an interview with the U.S. Army. “I still can hear him laughing. He enjoyed life. And above all, he enjoyed the Army.”