By Richard Crumbacker

PRINCESS ANNE — On the night of Feb. 11, 1951 Company K of the U.S. Army’s 3rd Battalion, 9th Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division was operating a task force alongside the Republic of Korea’s 16th Infantry Regiment to push back Chinese Communists during the Korean War.

Resistance was light at first, but attacks by the overwhelming number of Chinese persisted in an area west of a crossroads town of Saemal, so allied forces fell back.

The incursion was brief, but deadly, according to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, and Private First Class Donald Harold Selby of Oriole was among those captured by the Chinese. He joined other prisoners held in temporary camps in North Korea.

A news brief about Pfc Selby, age 19, was published on the front page of the March 16, 1951 edition of the Marylander and Herald after his parents Mr. and Mrs. Harold J. Selby of Oriole received a telegram stating that the Secretary of the Army wished to express “deep regret” that their son was “missing in action in Korea since February 12, 1951.”

Five days later on March 21, under the headline “6 Phila. Area Fighters Wounded, 3 Are Missing” The Philadelphia Inquirer reported the same information, noting that Pfc Selby had graduated from high school in Princess Anne (the former Greenwood High School) and was living in Philadelphia “when he entered the service last December.”

After hostilities ended, repatriated POWs reported Pfc Selby “died and was buried at Suan Bean Camp in April 1951. His remains have never been recovered and his status is killed in action and prisoner of war.

Now more than 70 years have passed and his family is seeking support for an effort to remember this young man’s service by applying to the Maryland Department of Transportation for a sign preferably in the area of U.S. 13 and Deal Island Road or as an alternative along Rt. 363 closer to Oriole.

One of 11 siblings, three survive: Brenda Selby of Princess Anne, Joyce Jones of Oriole and Sylvia Jones of New Castle, Del. Nephew Brian Jones of Pennsylvania is leading the effort for the sign with assistance from his son Michael, who lives in Tampa.

“They’ve been waiting 73 years to hear some good news,” Brian Jones said of his mother and aunts. He said the best news would be the recovery and identification of his uncle’s remains, but especially now with the situation in North Korea today that is unlikely.

The sign would be a significant honor and tell everyone who sees it that Donald “gave the ultimate sacrifice.”

Mr. Jones is retired military with some 80 family members having joined the service. His uncle’s name appears on the Korean War Veterans Memorial Foundation’s Wall of Remembrance in Washington and at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii, informally known as “the Punchbowl cemetery” for its location in an inactive volcanic crater. Mr. Jones said he visited the site when his son was stationed there.

The Maryland Transportation Commission considers requests for the dedication of facilities in memory or honor of individuals or groups of significance to the state. The County Commissioners on May 7 voted to send a letter of support for a sign to Ian Beam, the state commission’s staff member.

“The dedication of a Somerset County roadway in Pfc Selby’s name will serve as permanent tribute to his heroism and the ultimate sacrifice he made for the freedom and security of our nation,” the letter reads in part. It will “stand as a daily reminder” about those “who served in conflicts overseas.”

Mr. Jones said a similar endorsement was forwarded by Del. Charles Otto, and a letter is coming from Sen. Mary Beth Carozza.

There will be a get-together of family today at the Venton-Oriole Community Hall, which once served the old Venton Church, now gone. Pfc Selby was a member of St. James Church in Oriole, which ended regular services in the mid-1960s.

In February signs in remembrance of Pfc Michael Anthony Carter Jr. were placed on U.S. 13 north of Princess Anne in honor of his brief service in the U.S. Marines, having been killed in a single-vehicle accident on Ocean Highway north of Loretto Road in February 2018. The 2017 Washington High School graduate was 18.

Anyone who would like to support placement of a sign for Pfc Selby may contact Brian Jones for more information at 717-261-7682 or email jones2npa@outlook.com. Letters of support may also be sent to the Maryland Transportation Commission, 7201 Corporate Center Drive, Hanover, Md. 21076.