FORT KNOX, Ky. – The remains of U.S. Army Cpl. Vester Hicks, Jr. 17, who was killed during the Korean War, will be interred Sept. 25, at Great Lakes National Cemetery in Holly, Michigan. Services and interment are being coordinated by Czopek Funeral Home.
Hicks entered the Army from Tennessee and served in C Company, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division.
On the evening of Nov. 27, 1950, Chinese Communist Forces launched a massive attack against U.S. and United Nations troops positioned around the Chosin Reservoir in northeast North Korea. Elements of the 31st and 32nd Infantry Regiments were defending ground north of Sinhung-ni on the east side of the reservoir when the numerically superior enemy forced a withdrawal toward Hagaru-ri on Dec. 1.
The route south, cut by Chinese roadblocks and subjected to constant fire from surrounding high ground, broke the column into smaller groups that were attacked repeatedly during the fighting withdrawal. Many soldiers were killed or captured, and survivors reached friendly lines at Hagaru-ri on Dec. 2 and 3.
Hicks went missing during this withdrawal on or about Dec. 2, but the specific circumstances of his loss are unknown. In 1954, during Operation Glory, North Korea returned remains believed to be those of American service members, including one set designated Unknown X-15894. These remains, reportedly recovered from the east side of the Chosin Reservoir, were buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.
On March 8, 2021, as part of Phase Four of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency’s Korean War Disinterment Project, X-15894 was disinterred and accessioned into a DPAA Laboratory for analysis. There, scientists used modern forensic techniques to identify Hicks.
DPAA accounted for Hicks on Sept. 4, 2025.
For more information on DPAA’s efforts to locate and identify Hicks, please visit: https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/ID-Announcements/Article/4322575/soldier-accounted-for-from-korean-war-hicks-jr-v/
U.S. Army Human Resources Command’s Past Conflict Repatriations Branch plays a vital role in the process of identifying, locating and contacting subsequent generation family members of Soldiers missing or killed in action during WWII and the Korean War to positively identify previously undiscovered or unknown remains.
Media interested in covering and/or obtaining more information about the funeral and interment should contact Czopek Funeral Home, 734-285-9000.
| Date Taken: |
09.18.2026 |
| Date Posted: |
09.18.2026 16:18 |
| Story ID: |
575151 |
| Location: |
US |
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33 |
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This work, Lost in 1950, Korean War Soldier to be Laid to Rest in Michigan, by Daniela Vestal, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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