Korean War veteran to be interred at national cemetery
The remains of a Korean War Army veteran will be buried in a military ceremony at the National Cemetery of the Alleghenies.
After nearly 75 years, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Sgt. Clayton Millard Pierce last June.
Richard “Dick” Bair, Pierce’s nephew, a U.S. Army veteran and one of Pierce’s two remaining relatives, said the interment means a lot to the family.
“I’ve been wondering all of my life if our soldiers were really taken care of and that there were efforts to find them after they were missing in action and they were actually brought home for a proper burial to our country that they served,” Bair said. “It was just a wonderful feeling for me, knowing that this actually happens with our armed forces, that they do take care of our fallen soldiers.”
Bair, of Rossiter, a community near Punxsutawney, his wife, Sandra, and sister, Edith Delaney, of Dubois, were on hand Friday as Pierce’s remains arrived at Pittsburgh International Airport. They plan to attend Monday’s ceremony at the National Cemetery, where Bair will be interred with full military honors.
“After all of these years, finally he’s going to find his home resting place,” Bair said Thursday. He said Pierce was in the service for 11 years.
DeAngelo Funeral Home, which has locations in Canonsburg and Washington, is handling the service due to its proximity to the cemetery.
Pierce entered the U.S. Army from New York and served in D Company, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division.
On Nov. 27, 1950, Chinese Communist Forces launched a massive attack against the U.S. and United Nations troops stationed in the Chosin Reservoir in Northeast Korea, resulting in a 17-day conflict known as the Battle of Chosin Reservoir. Many were lost or captured, and Pierce was declared to have been killed in action Dec. 1, 1950. Documents show his age to be 41 at the time. Specific details regarding his loss are historically unavailable, and his remains were not identified among those returned to U.S. custody after the ceasefire.
On July 27, 2018, North Korea turned over 55 boxes, purported to contain the remains of American service members killed during the Korean War. In August of that year, the remains were accessioned into the DPAA laboratory for identification.
Dale DeAngelo, owner of DeAngelo Funeral Home, said close to 5,000 servicemen are still missing from the Korean War.
“Their remains have never been recovered,” he said. “(DPAA) was able to track down a niece and nephew of (Pierce’s) and confirm his identity.”
Pierce received a number of commendations for his service, including the Bronze Star, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Korean Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal and the Purple Heart.
Pierce is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. His name also is inscribed on the Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington,D.C., which was updated in 2022 to include the names of the fallen.