Illinois soldier laid to rest 74 years after Korean War death

ELWOOD, Ill. - The remains of an Illinois soldier were laid to rest on Wednesday, 74 years after he passed away in the Korean War.

Army Private First Class Bryan Myers, 21, died in September 1950 while fighting in the Korean War. His remains were only identified in February 2024 after being exhumed from the Punchbowl Cemetery in Hawaii in March 2019.

On Wednesday, Myers was buried at Abraham Lincoln National Cemetery in Elwood, Illinois. He was from Cobden, Illinois, and served in an infantry unit in Korea. His unidentified remains were recovered from a foxhole in South Korea and brought back to the U.S.

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency exhumed his remains in 2019 and identified him through a thorough process involving DNA testing, lab analysis, and locating family members.

Myers was finally laid to rest with the honors he deserved.

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency plays a key role in locating and identifying the remains of soldiers from World War II, the Korean War, and the Vietnam War.