LA CROSSE, Wis. (AP) - A soldier from La Crosse who went missing nearly 65 years ago during the Korean War will be buried next week at Arlington National Cemetery.
Francis Knobel was a 20-year-old corporal in the U.S. Army when his 31st Infantry Regiment participated in battles near the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea, the La Crosse Tribune (https://bit.ly/1H5gt8k ) reported. Knobel was reported missing on Dec 12, 1950, at the end of a 17-day battle, according to military records from the National Archives. He was among 154 U.S. forces declared to have been killed in action that day.
The Department of Defense exhumed the remains last year and identified them as Knobel’s through dental records, chest X-rays and circumstantial evidence. His niece and next of kin, Julie Houx, was notified in December.
“I was just so emotionally overwrought,” she said. “I’m like extremely happy that he’s been found. I’m extremely sad because that makes it real that he’s gone. But I’m also very proud . He died for his country.”
Houx was born about a decade after Knobel’s disappearance and only knew of her uncle through family photos and stories, she said.
“We grew up with the mystery of whatever happened to him. All we knew was he was missing,” she said. “We always had these childhood fantasies that he was alive somewhere over there, you know, and had a new family.”
Houx and her two children will travel to Washington, D.C., next week for the burial. Knobel will receive several decorations, including a National Defense Service Medal, Korean Service Medal with three Bronze Service Stars and the Purple Heart, before being buried with full military honors.
“He paid the ultimate price,” Houx said of her decision to bury him at the cemetery. “I think he deserves the ultimate tribute.”
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Information from: La Crosse Tribune, https://www.lacrossetribune.com
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