Memorial marker for MSgt James H. Elliott in Oak Hill Cemetery, Owosso, (Shiawassee county), Michigan.

On 16 October 1942, Pvt Elliott was transferred from the 507th PIR to Hq 1st, 508th PIR as a member of the cadre team.

Pvt Elliott was injured on 6 October 1943 during the Tennessee Maneuvers and evacuated to the 2nd Army Hospital Clearing Station.  On23 October he was transferred to the Thayer General Hospital , Nashville, TN.

On 27 November 1943, Pvt Elliott was transferred from the hospital to the 542nd PIR, Fort Benning. GA and did not return to the regiment.

MSgt Elliott left on a night patrol and never returned.

He was listed missing in action on 27 August 1950 and he was declared officially dead on 31 December 1953..  His body has never been recovered

James is listed on his memorial stone as a MSgt but also held the rank of 1st Lt. at one time, note the rank insignia and officer's cap device in  the photo. He may have lost his commission due to a reduction in force (RIF) and forced to accept an enlisted status. 

However, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency lists him as a 1st Lt (see profile) and in an "unaccounted for" status.

A description of the nighttime action when he was lost reads:

"  On August 27, 1950, Company A of the U.S. Army's 38th Infantry Regiment sent out a nighttime patrol toward an enemy-held prominence known as "Battleship Ridge," on the east bank of the Naktong River in South Korea.
   Soon after moving beyond friendly lines, the patrol came under heavy fire from the enemy, suffered casualties, and pulled back. Another patrol dispatched on the following day managed to recover some of the bodies that had fallen the prior day, but not all who were lost during the firefight. Because the area had been in enemy hands during the interim of firefights and searches, enemy forces would have had the opportunity to move or remove bodies under the cover of darkness.
   ​ First Lieutenant James Homer Elliott, who entered the U.S. Army from Michigan, served with Company A, 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, and was a member of this night patrol. He went missing in action during the firefight, and his remains were not among those recovered the next day.
   He was never reported as a prisoner of war or identified among any remains later recovered from the loss area or elsewhere. Today, First Lieutenant Elliott is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific."