Army Corporal Luis P. Torres comes home

Last month, Hondo told us that Army Corporal Luis P. Torres’ earthly remains had been positively identified by the DPAA. Today we read that he will join his family briefly while he’s lowered to his final rest on January 13th in San Antonio, Texas at the Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery;

“On Sept. 1, 1950, Torres was member of Company C, 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, when his battalion had its position overrun by enemy forces along the east bank of the Naktong River, South Korea,”?the release noted. “During this attack, Torres was reported missing in action near Changyong, South Korea. Torres’ name did not appear on any prisoner of war list, but one returning American prisoner of war reported that he believed Torres was held captive by the enemy and was executed. Due to the prolonged lack of evidence, the U.S. Army declared him deceased as of March 3, 1954.”

And the recovery efforts for soldiers in that time were extremely complicated, the DPAA release continued.

“Although the U.S. Army Graves Registration Service planned to recover American remains that remained north of the Korean Demilitarized Zone after the war, administrative details between the United Nations Command and North Korea complicated recovery efforts,”?the DPAA release noted. “An agreement was made and in September and October 1954, in what was known as Operation Glory, remains were returned. However, Torres’ remains were not included and he was declared non-recoverable.”

Mendoza’s uncle Greg, who had not forgotten his brother and would himself eventually serve during the Vietnam War, had been researching the case for many years, and then Mendoza’s brother Carlos, began helping with the search around 2005. After eight years of searching and looking through available DPAA files, the family received a call in July 2013 with a possible location for Torres based on witness statements and other records found. The remains, which were found in an unmarked grave in a cemetery near Changyong marked as “Unknown X-331,” were then tested in May 2016, and the tests conclusively proved the remains were those of Army Cpl. Luis Torres.

Category: We Remember