Monday, the remains of Army Corporal Eldert Beek were interred at Evergreen Cemetery in the northwest Iowa town of George.
Beek was a member of Headquarters Company, 1st battalion, 32nd infantry regiment, 7th infantry division. He was reported killed in action December 1, 1950, when his unit was attacked by enemy forces near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea. Following the battle, his remains could not be recovered. He was only 20 years old.
On July 27, 2018, almost seventy years after his death, 55 boxes of human remains were turned over to the U.S. from the North Korean government. On April 14, 2020, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency reported that Beek was officially accounted for using DNA analysis and circumstantial evidence.
On this edition of River to River, host Ben Kieffer talks with Army personnel and a Beek family member about how his remains were identified and brought home to Iowa.
Guests:
- Jeannette Gray, U.S. Army Human Resource Command
- Sergeant First Class Sean Everette, DPAA (Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agendy)
- ElDon Maxwell, nephew of Eldert Beek from Rock Rapids
