TERRE HAUTE, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV) — The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) released that a United States Army Sergeant from Terre Haute that was killed during the Korean War was identified in August of 2022 and will be returned and buried in Greenwood, Indiana.
Army Sgt. Charles Garrigus was 24 years old at the time of his death during a battle near the Chosin River in North Korea. Garrigus was a member of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, and the 7th Infantry Division. Reported missing in action on Dec. 1, 1950, Garrigus’ remains were not able to be recovered after the battle.
In July of 2018, North Korea returned 55 boxes, reported to have the remains of American service members who perished during the Korean War. The remains were delivered to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickman, Hawaii in August of 2018 and were then documented and admitted into the DPAA laboratory for identification.
Garrigus’ name is now recorded on the American Battle Monuments Commission’s Court of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu along with others who are still missing from the Korean War. There was no evidence that he was ever a prisoner of war. A rosette will be placed next to his name to show that he has been found, identified, and accounted for. Garrigus’ profile on the DPAA website can be viewed here.
Garrigus will be buried in Greenwood, Indiana. The date of the service is yet to be determined.
For those interested in learning more about the DPAA’s most current and updated data on the Korean War, visit their Korean War Fact Sheet on the DPAA website. For those interested in more information regarding the Defense Department’s commitment to finding and accounting for all missing service members, visit the DPAA website, or check them out on social media.
