MCPO Ret. In TN sends us a link from WCHS 8 in regards to West Virginia resident Army Corporal Alva C. Groves of Four States whose remains have been returned and identified for burial Thursday;
He was a member of Company D, 1st Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division. His unit was occupying a defensive position northeast of Kujang, North Korea, when it was attacked by Chinese forces in November 1950.
The federal office said Chinese forces reported in 1953 that Groves was captured and died in a prisoner of war camp on April 14, 1951, from tubercular peritonitis.
If he died that long ago and in the custody of the Chinese, I don’t know why it could have taken this long to resolve but welcome home, Alva.
Welcome home.
Rest well, Corporal.
Welcome, CPL Groves. My apologies for missing the announcement of your identification.
DPMO has a bit more info on CPL Groves.
http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo/news/news_releases/2014/documents/release_groves.pdf
CPL Groves’ remains were apparently among the 350-400 sets of commingled remains returned between 1991 and 1994. It was only recently that they were definitively identified.
Cases like this are why mtDNA samples are so important.
Welcome home, our elder brother in arms. Rest in peace.
Welcome home Corporal Alva C. Groves. Rest In Peace now in your home soil. We are glad you are home. God bless your family.
There is more personal information about this soldier and a picture of him at the link below. He was 18 when he died a POW. The Patriot Guard will escort him from the Pittsburgh Airport to the funeral home in West Virginia. Services and burial will occur Thursday. Welcome home, Alva.
http://www.theet.com/obituaries/cpl-alva-clifford-groves/article_98b31242-1ac3-11e4-8298-001a4bcf887a.html?mode=jqm
Welcome home, Corporal. Rest in peace.