Remains of 17-Year-Old Soldier Edward J. Reiter Identified 72 Years After He Was Killed in Korean War

The remains of a 17-year-old soldier was identified 72 years after he was killed in the Korean War. U.S. Army Pfc. Edward J. Reiter’s body had originally been declared non-recoverable until new dental and anthropological analysis positively identified a match with remains at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii. 

Reiter’s exhumed remains will now be reburied in his hometown of Northampton, Pennsylvania this fall.

Reiter was a member of K Company, 3rd Battalion, 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division in July 1950 when he was reported missing in action. His unit had been defending against a North Korean army near Ch’onan, South Korea, when his unit retreated after sustaining heavy casualties.

He was deemed non-recoverable in January 1956 and declared dead after the end of the Korean War.

Years prior, in 1951, two sets of remains were recovered from the approximate location he disappeared – one belonging to someone of Asian descent, and another of European descent. When they were unable to be identified using the technology of the time, they were buried as Unknowns at the National Memorial Cemetary of the Pacific, also known as the Punchbowl.

A rosette will now be placed next to his name at the Punchbowl to indicate he has been accounted for.

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