Roy Charles Delauter

Roy Charles DeLauter, also known as Buddy to his friends and family, was born on April 22, 1929, one of six children born to Roy W. DeLauter and Grace Rae DeLauter. He was the second child and the first son born to the family. He was big brother to 4 younger siblings, Grace Jane DeLauter Kline, Boyd David DeLauter, Margaret Rose DeLauter Carr, and Dickie Daniel DeLauter. His oldest sibling is Evelyn Rae DeLauter Eccard. Of his immediate family, only his 3 sisters remain, and all live locally.

Buddy was a tease and jokester growing up, especially to his siblings. He loved music and learned to play the harmonica at the young age of 10. He also enjoyed singing. He had a special knack for finding 4 leaf clovers.

Buddy lived in Washington County all his life and attended the Smithsburg school system. His father was a carpenter by trade, and he himself was employed by the Brandt Cabinet Works in Hagerstown, Maryland. 

He married Shirley Viola Brown in 1947 and had two daughters, Marjorie Sharlene DeLauter of Smithsburg, and Sue Royalle DeLauter Draper of Hagerstown. He joined the Army in August of 1948, and became assigned to Company D, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He received his initial training at Fort Bragg, NC but his unit was later deployed to Japan to complete their training. From there, he was sent to Korea. He served in his unit as a cook.

Buddy’s unit, Company D, the battalion’s heavy weapons company, was positioned on the east side of the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea, which was the northernmost perimeter on the east side. On the night of November 27, 1950, the Chinese Communist Forces began a large-scale attack on all the US positions at the Chosin Reservoir.  US defensive lines were overrun as the fighting continued through November 28 and 29. It was decided a withdrawal was necessary and was begun on November 29 and 30. Multiple roadblocks and continuous enemy fire made it difficult to withdraw, and on December 1, 1950, during heavy fighting, Buddy became missing and was not among the survivors who had fought their way out to safety during the days of December 2 and 3. He was labeled as Missing in Action until the end of the war in July of 1953. At that time, as prisoners of war were released during Operation Big Switch, a member of Buddy’s unit came forward and stated he had witnessed Buddy’s death near the Chosin Reservoir on December 1, 1950. He was 21 years of age at the time of his death.

In 2018, North Korea returned 55 boxes of remains which were reported to contain US service members killed during the war to the United States. Some of these boxes contained remains from Sinhung-ri on the east side of the Chosin Reservoir. Laboratory analysis led to the identification of some of these remains belonging to Buddy.

A funeral service with military honors will be held Friday, April 22, 2022 from 10:30 A.M. to 11:30 A.M. at Willow Brook Seventh-day Adventist Church, 8916 Mapleville Road, Boonsboro, MD 21713.

He was a much loved and dearly missed father, husband, son, brother, and friend to those he left behind.