Four more Accounted For
Defense MIA/POW Accounting Agency
Soldier Accounted For From Korean War
Army Sgt. Cresenciano Garcia
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Army Sgt. Cresenciano Garcia, Jr., 22, of Laredo, Texas, died as a prisoner of war during the Korean War, was accounted for Apr. 25, 2023.
In August 1950, Garcia was a member of Headquarters Company, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on Dec. 1 during a battle just south of Kunu-ri, South Korea. His remains could not be immediately recovered and was officially declared dead on or around February 28, 1951 in POW Camp 5, in the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (D.P.R.K.).
In 1954 the opposing nations reached an agreement to exchange war dead, the execution of which was known as Operation GLORY. Remains were sent to the Central Identification Unit, Kokura, Japan, for processing and identification. One set of Unknown Remains, designated X-14189, was reportedly recovered from Ch’angsong (Camp 1), D.P.R.K., and could not be identified after analysis. While that location is inconsistent with Sergeant Garcia’s reported location of death at Pyoktong (Camp 5), it is possible that remains from Camp 1 and 5 exhumations were inadvertently mixed when delivered during Operation GLORY. The remains were later transported with all the unidentified Korean War remains and buried as Unknowns at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, also known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu, Hawaii, in 1956.
On Dec. 9, 2019, DPAA personnel exhumed Unknown Remains X-14189 for further scientific testing and analysis. Further research by a DPAA historian and forensic anthropologist determined the remains could possibly be associated with Garcia. The remains were disinterred and sent to the DPAA Laboratory for analysis.
To identify Garcia’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
Garcia’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.
Garcia will be buried in Laredo, Texas on Oct. 14, 2023.
Soldier Accounted For From Korean War
U.S. Army Cpl. Rex W. Powell
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Cpl. Rex W. Powell, 18, Valdese, North Carolina, who was killed during the Korean War, was accounted for Feb. 13, 2023
In the winter of 1950, Powell was a member of L Company, 3rd Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on Dec. 12, when his unit was attacked by enemy forces near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea. While it is possible Powell was captured, there was no record or eyewitness accounts of him being held as a prisoner of war, and no recovered remains were ever identified as him. The Army issued a presumptive finding of death on Dec. 31, 1953.
During Operation GLORY in 1954, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea returned the remains of over 2,900 Americans. During the subsequent processing and identification of these remains, none were associated with Powell, and he was declared non-recoverable in January 1956. At the end of the identification process, 848 unidentified remains, including one designated X-15633 Operation GLORY, were interred at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, also known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu, Hawaii.
In July 2018, the DPAA proposed a plan to disinter 652 Korean War Unknowns from the Punchbowl. In March 2021, during Phase Three of DPAA’s Korean War Disinterment Project, X-15633 was disinterred from the Punchbowl and transferred to the DPAA Laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, for analysis.
To identify Powell’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
Powell’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.
Powell will be buried in Salisbury, North Carolina on Aug. 11, 2023.
Soldier Accounted For From Korean War
U.S. Army Cpl. Dewey E. Rewis
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Cpl. Dewey E. Rewis Jr., 18, of Waycross, Georgia, who died as a prisoner of war during the Korean War, was accounted for Oct. 25, 2022.
In late 1950, Rewis was a member of Battery D, 15th Anti-Aircraft Artillery Automatic Weapons Battalion, 31st Regimental Combat Team, 7th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on Dec. 2, 1950, after his unit were advancing along the eastern banks of the Chosin Reservoir, in North Korea, when they came under attack. In 1953, four POWs returned during Operation Big Switch reported Rewis had been a prisoner of war and died in March 1951 at an area called Death Valley; it was not an established POW Camp but a collection point for United Nations prisoners.
In the late summer and fall of 1954, during Operation Glory, North Korea returned remains reportedly recovered in an area north of the Chosin Reservoir known as Death Valley, to the United Nations Command (UNC). However, Rewis’ name did not appear on any of the transfer rosters and the Central Identification Unit in Kokura, Japan, did not associate any repatriated remains with him. Rewis was determined to be non-recoverable on Jan. 16, 1956.
On Dec. 1, 1993, North Korea turned over 33 boxes of remains to the UNC, which sent them to the Central Identification Lab in Hawaii to undergo forensic analysis. In 2007 one of the three sets of remains was identified as a 31st RCT soldier killed near the Chosin Reservoir.
To identify Rewis’ remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), and Y chromosome (Y-STR), analysis.
Rewis’ name is recorded on the American Battle Monuments Commission’s Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, 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.
Rewis, will be buried in Echols County, Georgia on a date yet to be determined.
Soldier Accounted For From World War II
U.S. Army Pvt. Wing O. Hom
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that U.S. Army Pvt. Wing O. Hom, 20, of Boston, Massachusetts, missing in action during World War II, was accounted for April 6, 2023.
In February 1944, Hom was assigned to the Company B, 7th Infantry Regiment, 3d Infantry Division. On Feb. 2, Hom went missing in action when his unit engaged in defensive fighting against German Forces near the town of Cisterna di Latina, Italy. His body was not recovered, and the Germans never reported him a prisoner of war. The War Department issued a finding of death on Feb. 3, 1945.
Following the war, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), Army Quartermaster Corps, was the organization tasked with recovering missing American personnel in the European Theater. In 1946, AGRC investigators recovered a set of remains designated as X-541 Nettuno, three miles west of Cisterna thought to be associated with Hom. The investigators didn’t have enough identifying data to positively ID the remains and they were interred at USMC Nettuno, which is now Sicily-Rome American Cemetery. He was declared non-recoverable May 10, 1949.
While studying unresolved American losses in the Anzio battlefield, a DPAA historian determined that one set of unidentified remains designated X-541 Nettuno recovered near Cisterna in September 1944, possibly belonged to Hom. The remains which had been buried at Sicily-Rome American Cemetery, Nettuna, Italy in 1948, were disinterred in September 2021 and sent to the DPAA laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for identification.
To identify Hom remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), analysis.
Hom’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at Sicily-Rome American Cemetery an American Battle Monuments Commission site in Nettuno, Italy, along with others still missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
Hom will be buried in Brooklyn, New York on Oct. 11, 2023.
For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.
Category: No Longer Missing
Cresenciano Garcia, Jr. Family is listed at this link:
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/257595187/cresenciano-garcia
Additionally, the link mentioned he was born 18 June 1931 and died 28 February 1951 at the young age of 19 instead of 22.
SGT Garcia was a Signal Message Clerk assigned to Headquarters Company, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division.
Still a Teenager.
This is a great article about him.
“Korean War POW Who Disappeared Returned to Family 73 Years Later in ‘Miracle'”
https://www.military.com/daily-news/2023/08/07/korean-war-pow-who-disappeared-returned-family-73-years-later-miracle.html/amp
“A soldier with extensive family in the region went missing in action after becoming a prisoner of war during the Korean War 73 years ago.”
“But a relative from Lynwood donated her DNA in the hope of identifying his remains and it paid off.”
“Army Sgt. Cresenciano “Chano” Garcia Jr. was at last identified, bringing closure to his family who were long left to wonder about his fate.”
“He’s being returned to his family, who will have a celebration of life in Gary in September before a burial next to his parents in Texas in October.”
“He was the youngest of five kids. There’s some discrepancy when he joined the army but it’s believed he was 17 years old because his dad had to sign for him,” said relative Sandy Strong from Lynwood. “About 90% of his family is here in the Region.”
“Three of his sisters moved from the border town in Texas to East Chicago and his family has since fanned out across the Region. He now has family in East Chicago, Hammond, Highland, Griffith, Portage, Cedar Lake, Lake of the Four Seasons and Lynwood just across the state line in Illinois.”
“He enlisted while the Korean War was raging and went to basic training at Fort Lewis in Washington.”
“He wrote regular letters to his grandmother, which the family still has…”
Rest In Peace, Soldier.
Salute.
Never Forget.
Bring Them All Home.
*Slow Salute*
Corporal Rex W. Powell’s Family can be found at this site:
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/257290239/rex-warner-powell
Rex was born on 5 October 1932 to Isa Powell Williams Epley and died on 12 December 1950 at the young age of 18.
Still A Teenager.
He left behind his niece, Jatonna Hunt Garner; nephew, Warren Hunt and wife Wendy and two great-nieces, Devon Gailey and Dylan Gailey.
This is a great article about him:
“A Parting Salute: After 73 Years, Soldier Is Finally Laid To Rest”
https://news.yahoo.com/parting-salute-73-years-soldier-064600368.html
“Army Cpl. Rex Warner Powell’s 73-year odyssey ended Friday at Salisbury National Cemetery, where the soldier was finally laid to rest with full military honors.”
“During those 73 years since Powell was reported missing, family members could only wonder what had happened to him. His younger sister, Barbara Williams Hunt of Thomasville, died last year. That left her daughter — Powell’s niece, Jatonna Hunt Garner, also of Thomasville — as the closest living relative, though she never even knew her uncle.”
“It’s been a bittersweet journey,” Garner told The High Point Enterprise in an article published earlier this week. “I really, really wish they could have solved this before my mother passed, but better late than never.”
“Prior to Friday’s interment ceremony in Salisbury, a brief memorial service was held at the funeral home, with Barton again officiating. With Powell’s flag-draped coffin resting at the front of the chapel, a recording of patriotic piano music set the tone, and a guest musician sang “Amazing Grace” and “Go Rest High On That Mountain.”
“Following the service, Rolling Thunder escorted Powell’s remains to the cemetery — about a 40-minute drive — where his sister and her husband, a Navy veteran, are also buried.”
Rest In Peace, Soldier.
Salute.
Never Forget.
Bring Them All Home.
Corporal Dewey Edward Rewis Jr was only 18 years old when he gave his life for our Country.
Still A Teenager.
“His parents were the late Dewey Edward Rewis Sr 1907 – 1987 and Ruby Hargraves Rewis 1914 – 1993. He was an only child and the remaining family members are distant cousins.”
Information about his Mom and Dad can be found at this link:
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/28589284/dewey-edward-rewis
He was buried 12 August 2023 at the Wayfare Cemetery in Echols County.
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/name/dewey-rewis-obituary?id=52578864
A wonderful article about him:
“Family Seeks To Preserve The Legacy Of New Identified South Georgian Killed During Korean War”
https://www.walb.com/2023/07/29/family-seeks-preserve-legacy-new-identified-south-georgian-killed-during-korean-war/
“She died in ‘93, aunt Ruby, uncle Dewey died, the daddy died in 1987. They did have some information back in the 50s about some POWs who was in the camp with Dewey Edwards, and that he had died in that prison camp. But they never had any closure until this recent finding,” says Dewey’s cousin Austin Deloach.”
“According to Deloach, the parents of Dewey grieved tremendously over the years, but one thing he noticed, was that they grieved silently.”
“They grieved every day of their lives, but they never talked about it. I never brought it up, but I feel like one thing that’s evident to me is the fact that they never ever ever talked about it,”
“Dewey’s family is now using this as an educational opportunity for the next generation.”
“The family says they are donating his personal items to the Echols County Historical Society as a way for the next generation to always remember the Korean War.”
Rest In Peace, Soldier.
Salute.
Never Forget.
Bring Them All Home.
Private Wing On Hom was born 12 January 1924 in Guangzhou, Guangdong, China and gave his life for our Country on 2 February 1944.
He had just turned 20.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/56310179/wing-on-hom
He will be buried at Green-Wood Cemetary in Brooklyn, New York on 11 October 2023.
Rest In Peace, Soldier.
Salute.
Never Forget.
Bring Them All Home.
Willing and Able!
Three of the Soldiers listed here today were Teenagers when they gave their lives for our Country.
One Soldier just turned 20.
IMHO, it is always harder for a parent or parents to lose their child at such a young age.
Welcome Home and Rest Easy, Good Sirs. A Salute to your Service and Honors Paid for your Sacrifice. Every Fallen Service Member deserves, at the very least, a Marked Resting Place.
Three Southern Boys, one of which was of Hispanic Lineage (Many of the Alamo Defenders were Hispanic), and a Naturalized Asian, proving again, that Patriotic Americans come from all backgrounds.
There can be no greater pain than a parent losing their child.
Thank you, Dave, for these posts. It means a lot that we can take the time to Say their names…and Be their Witness. A Thanks to our very own (we have the very best) ninja for the additional links on these Identified Fallen. Salute!
KoB:
What you wrote on your second paragraph is EXACTLY what we were thinking:
“Three Southern Boys, one of which was of Hispanic Lineage (Many of the Alamo Defenders were Hispanic), and a Naturalized Asian, proving again, that Patriotic Americans come from all backgrounds.”
Yep. KoB NAILED it.
Thank You, KoB!
gabn/gabaf/hbtd/rtr
Welcome Home.
Welcome home Brothers. Rest in peace now.
Two of these Soldiers died as POWs during the Korean War.
This brought back a memory of the Phony, Richard “Dick” Stoops who also claimed to have been a Korean War POW (check out his records):
https://valorguardians.com/blog/?p=19182
https://valorguardians.com/blog/?p=18445
Well, guess what.
He took his lies to the grave.
One TAH article mentioned he claimed a Purple Heart, which he never received. Keep in mind, he did not show up to Korea until July 18, 1953 and left in October 1, 1953 to ho yo Japan. The cease fire in the war began on July 27, 1953).
Yet, here in his obituary, he is the Military Order of the Purple Heart.
https://www.southeastiowaunion.com/obituaries/richard-dick-stoops/
Next link is the post Jonn did about his PH claim.
The PH post:
https://valorguardians.com/blog/?p=59592
Sadly, he led his family to the very end in believing stuff about it.
Richard “Dick” Stoops NEVER was a Korean War POW nor did he receive the Purple Heart.
Hope he NEVER rests in peace.
I remember this clown, and recently linked to the articles on him in a comment. The Rakkasans are mostly almost a meme to hate nowadays. My first unit was 3/187 and we trained hard, fought hard, and almost all of us came home in January 2004. 3rd Brigade 101st was also one of the first to deploy to Afghanistan beginning in late 2001. Now, we’re known for spray painting toriis all over the place.
When Stoops claimed to have served with 187th ARCT, they were true bad asses. After serving as a Glider Infantry Regiment in the Pacific in WWII, they converted to Para-Glider and were the first to occupy Japan in 1945. During Korea, they were the only conventional Airborne unit to see service. The 82nd and 101st stayed stateside (the 101st even losing it’s tab for a year or two as a training division). Post-Korea, they were among the first to test Air-Mobile tactics as part of the 11th Air Assault Division (Test). Our Honorary 1SG told us of how he reported one day wearing the 11th AASLT only to have his 1SG come out and smoke everyone for being in the wrong uniform. They’d been reflagged to the 1st Air Cavalry. Sadly, it seems Frank Arias has passed: Frank Arias | Obituary | Gallatin News. He was at both Ia Drang and Dong Ap Bia.
The indoctrination was good in 3/187 IN. As a PV2 I attended my first Hamburger Hill Reunion, where I met Golden Rakkasans (WWII and Korea) as well as many who served in Vietnam and later. I spoke at length with the commander who provided artillery support for 3rd BDE at Hamburger Hill, 1SG(R) Arias, and too many others. While on Rear-D, I acquired the 187th Regimental Association’s history book, containing names of many who served through Korea, especially those who were wounded or earned awards for valor. I think I even made some comments in the Stoops threads pertaining to the book having zero mention of him.
Anyway, to hell with that guy. Rakkasans were something special, unlike him.
Yep, I commented quite a bit with detailed movements taken from the Regimental history. Also, commented on this place, located maybe an hour from me near Mississippi and not far from Angola State Penitentiary.: Facebook
Looks like they’re still open. I’ll have to stop in.
Thank You, fm2176, for proving feedback and info on the 187th ARCT.
We have one of their yearbooks from the 1950s. So much history!
May Stoops NEVER rest in peace. Again, he went to his grave with his lies…
Thank You Again!
👍👍👍👌👌👌
Rest in peace, finally back on home soil.
A grateful nation never forgets.
Gentlemen, rest well and welcome home.
Indeed, our apologies that it took this long, but welcome home, men.