Funeral Procession Set For POW/MIA Soldier Finally Being Laid To Rest

RIVERSIDE, CA — A young Southern California soldier who died in a POW camp during the Korean War will finally be laid to rest Friday at Riverside National Cemetery, and a funeral procession is planned across the region.

U.S. Army Cpl. Daniel De Anda, a native of Pico, was a member of G Company, 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, 8th U.S. Army. He was just 22 years old when he was reported missing in action on Nov. 30, 1950, after his unit tried to withdraw from Kunu-ri, North Korea, following the Battle of Ch’ongch’on.

De Anda died a prisoner of war in March 1951.

Remains from the POW camp where De Anda was held were returned to the U.S. by North Korea in 1954. They were buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.

One set of remains designated "Unknown X-14598" was among the "war unknowns." The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency disinterred Unknown X-14598 from Punchbowl in August 2019 to conduct laboratory analysis.

Using chest radiograph comparison as well as dental, anthropological and mitochondrial DNA analysis, De Anda was accounted for by the DPMAA on Jan. 10, 2023.

De Anda's remains were brought to Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier. On Friday, they will be transported to Riverside National Cemetery for a formal interment with military funeral honors.

A procession route is planned.

"We reach out to the community ... to ask your support lining the [procession] route with flags for this hero's journey to his final resting place," Honoring Our Fallen CEO Laura Herzog said.

The procession will depart Rose Hills Memorial Park around noon, entering the Pomona (60) Freeway eastbound.

The motorcade will travel roughly 50 miles on the 60, passing through the city of Industry, Diamond Bar, Pomona, Chino, Ontario, Eastvale, Jurupa Valley, Riverside and the western fringe of Moreno Valley before turning southbound onto Interstate 215 and exiting on Van Buren Boulevard, where it will turn westbound back into Riverside, entering the national cemetery via Harmon Street — the main entrance.

Additional information is available at www.HonoringOurFallen.org.

More than 36,000 American service personnel were killed in the Korean War, according to federal data.