Erik Faddersbol Yde

U.S. Army Capt. Erik Faddersbol YdeResident of San FranciscoMarch 25, 1919 – June 30, 1951 Erik Faddersbol Yde, son of Karla Marie (Holm) and Niels Faddersbol Yde, was born in Denmark on March 25, 1919. He passed away around June 30, 1951, at age 32, while a Prisoner of War in North Korea.Erik and his parents immigrated to the United States from Denmark. Initially, at the age of 2, his family moved to the Island of Bali in the Dutch East Indies because his father secured a job with the Dutch government designing irrigation systems for rice farming. But at age 4, the Yde family relocated to San Franciso where his father found work as a civil engineer for the City of San Francisco. When Erik was 7, the Yde family welcomed a new addition to the family: Erik’s brother, Paul. And in 1929, Erik’s father became a naturalized U.S. citizen (after the requisite 5-year waiting period) and soon after the entire family celebrated becoming American citizens, too. The family lived comfortably in the Forest Hill neighborhood of San Francisco, where the boys enjoyed playing sports in the neighborhood with friends and swimming at the Sutro Baths.Captain Yde first served his country in the Navy Reserve from 1936 to 1938, and then served in the Army starting in 1938. In 1941, tragedy struck the Yde family when Erik’s mother lost her battle with breast cancer. It was a difficult transition for the family. Erik was 22, and in the service, and Paul, was 15. But Erik went out of his way to fill the void and spend time with his younger brother.Erik married Dorthy Anne (Robinson) Yde, the love of his life, on January 17, 1942, just three months after his mother’s passing. Dorthy not only cared for her husband but was also an integral part of Paul’s life. Later in life, Paul would fondly recount stories of Erik and Dorthy giving him rides in their car, taking him shopping for things he might need, or just on outings for entertainment. Both Erik and Dorthy were nurturing souls who generously gave of themselves in life. They both also shared a love of country as each proudly served our nation, with Dorthy having been a career civilian employee of the U.S. Army.Military Story (of Loss):In 1950, Capt. Yde was a member of Headquarters, Headquarters Battery, 503rd Field Artillery Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division. He was taken Prisoner of War while fighting the enemy in Korea on February 12, 1951, while attempting to penetrate an enemy roadblock.His capture was preceded by events in late 1950, when the allied forces were surprised by an invasion of more than 300,000 communist Chinese soldiers. Front line forces were pushed more than 300 miles southward in a hasty and costly retreat executed over mountainous terrain and under constant attack. Eventually the Chinese Communist Forces were halted, and the front lines stabilized around the 37th parallel.On February 5, 1951, the American, South Korean, and UN forces launched a counteroffensive near Wonju, South Korea, in which Captain Yde’s 503rd Field Artillery Battalion played a major role. In response, on the night of February 11, 1951, the Chinese Communist Forces launched a massive attack, and for the next 24 hours the allies fought off overwhelming attacks on isolated positions of their lines. The 503rd was providing fire support to the allies besieged positions, but by February 12, the unrelenting Chinese Communist Forces’ attacks finally broke through. The collapse of the allied line exposed Captain Yde and his comrades in the 503rd to enemy mortar and automatic fire as well as enemy infiltrators. Under constant assault, the Battalion was ordered to retreat, while also providing crucial heavy artillery support to break through various Chinese roadblocks. Those efforts enabled the Battalion to continue its retreat, but not before it had lost Captain Yde and 71 other men in the fighting.Captain Yde and his fellow prisoners of war were marched over 250 miles in subfreezing temperatures with little food or other basic necessities to POW Camp #1 on the border of China, in Changsong, North Korea. While he survived the march, conditions in the camp were little better than during the march itself with disease, malnutrition, and lack of medical care combining to create a ghastly mortality rate among the prisoners. After several months of perseverance and bravery, he is estimated to have died around June 30, 1951 while a prisoner.Captain Yde’s remains were eventually recovered during “Operation Glory” in 1953 when remains of war dead were exchanged with the Chinese People’s Volunteer Forces. However, his name was not on any of the transfer rosters and no repatriated remains had been associated with him. So, in 1956, he was determined non-recoverable. Most of the remains from Operation Glory could not be identified and were eventually interred in unknown soldier’s graves, as were Captain Yde’s, at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (also known as “the Punchbowl”) in Honolulu, Hawaii.In 2019, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA’s) Korean War Punchbowl Cemetery disinterment project began disinterring the hundreds of Korean War Unknowns for analysis with forensic processes that were unavailable at the time of internment in the 1950s.In 2020, Unknown X-14275 was disinterred and analyzed. Three and a half years later, Unknown X-14275 was positively identified and accounted for as Capt. Yde, using dental and anthropological analysis, chest radiograph comparison and circumstantial evidence, and mitochondrial DNA analysis based on DNA provided by family members.Capt. Yde’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for. Now, 73 years later, he is en route to his final resting place.Capt. Yde was preceded in death by his mother; other loved ones who did not survive to welcome him home include his late father, Niels Yde of San Francisco, his late brother Paul Niels (Luella) Yde of Brentwood, CA, and his late wife/widow Dorthy Anne (Robinson Yde) Ellsworth of Pacific Grove, CA. Capt. Yde’s surviving family includes his nieces Karyn (Tom) Weber of Pleasant Hill, CA, Karla (Raymond “Butch”) Richardson of Cambridge, MN, and Kelly (Stephen) Sadowski of East Grand Rapids, MI, as well as 3 grand nieces, Cassidy, Piper and Danica Sadowski and his cousin, Sven (Bernita) Holm of San Carlos, CA.Burial will be at San Joaquin Valley National Cemetery in Santa Nella, Ca, home of the California Korean War Veterans Memorial, and also the burial place of his brother, Paul.The family invites the public to a Celebration of Life to honor Capt. Erik F. Yde on Sunday, April 28 2024 at 1:00 p.m. at Lafayette Veterans Memorial Center, 3780 Mt. Diablo Blvd., Lafayette, CA. Hosted by VFW Post 8063, the event will include full military honors, a three-volley rifle salute, U.S. military and family speakers, Korea Consulate representatives, presentation of medals, and patriotic music by Clarinet Fusion. Please join the family as they honor and celebrate the return home of Capt. Erik F. Yde. Doors open and prelude music at 12:30 p.m.