Korean War Soldier's Remains Identified After 75 Years

S. Army sergeant from New Mexico, killed in action during the Korean War, has been accounted for, according to military officials. The soldier enlisted in the military in 1949 at the age of 17, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency reported in a news release.

The soldier's mother received his last letter on November 27, 1950. The letter stated, "If anything happens to me, please mother, no tears," according to a news clipping shared by the agency.

Three days later, on November 30, 1950, he was wounded while defending his position near the Chosin Reservoir in what is now North Korea.

Battle at Chosin Reservoir The Chosin Reservoir area was the site of intense fighting between United Nations forces and Chinese Communist Forces during the Korean War, the agency stated.

Approximately 30,000 United Nations soldiers and Marines engaged about 120,000 enemy troops over several weeks from late November to mid-December 1950. S. service members were killed, and thousands more were wounded, according to the agency.

The soldier was struck and seriously wounded during an enemy attack, as described in a statement accompanying a posthumous Silver Star award. He refused evacuation because no replacement was available and continued to operate his weapon despite the injury. After the attack was repelled, he collapsed from blood loss and was evacuated to an aid station.

He was reported missing in action on December 2, 1950, when his convoy was ambushed by opposing forces, the agency said. No records indicated he was taken as a prisoner of war. He was declared presumed dead on December 31, 1953.

Identification and Recovery Efforts The soldier was the only person from his hometown of Gallup, New Mexico, listed as unaccounted for from the Korean War, according to a local news clipping.

His name had been inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. N. forces, hundreds of service members could not be recovered immediately from the Chosin Reservoir area.

Over the decades, recovery and identification efforts have continued at the site. S. troops remain unaccounted for from the Korean War, the agency reported. In 2018, North Korea returned 55 boxes believed to contain remains of American service members who died in the war.

The agency has analyzed those remains using anthropological methods, circumstantial and material evidence, and DNA and genome testing. The identification of this soldier's remains was confirmed on April 15, 2025. The remains were transported to New Mexico, where members of the New Mexico National Guard Funeral Honors Team received the casket in Albuquerque.

“We're here to make sure he is received with dignity," a National Guard member said, according to a social media post by the team. " The soldier received a military burial with full honors in his hometown, the agency stated. He was awarded the Silver Star, a Purple Heart, and the Korean Service Medal with two Bronze Service Stars, according to the National Guard.”

His name has been removed from the Courts of the Missing, and his family has received a full briefing on the identification.