FORT KNOX, Ky. – The remains of U.S. Army Pfc. Willard H. Edwards, 39, of Wise, Virginia killed during the Korean War, will be interred February 27, in Cape Canaveral National Cemetery, Mims, Florida. North Brevard Funeral Home will coordinate graveside services preceding the interment.
Edwards was a member of Company M, 3rd Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was reported killed in action on Dec. 2, 1950 after his unit was attacked by enemy forces as they attempted to withdraw near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea.
In 1954, during Operation Glory, North Korea unilaterally turned over remains to the United States, including one set, designated Unknown X-15728 Operation Glory. The remains were reportedly recovered from prisoner of war camps, United Nations cemeteries and isolated burial sites. None of the remains could be identified as Edwards and he was declared non-recoverable in January 1956. The remains were subsequently buried as an Unknown in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency accounted for Vega on Sept. 26, 2023.
For more information on DPAA’s efforts to locate and identify Pfc. Edwards’s remains, please visit: https://www.dpaa.mil/News-Stories/ID-Announcements/Article/4064865/soldier-accounted-for-from-korean-war-edwards-w/
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 North Brevard Funeral Home, 321-269-9222.