Korean War Vet Killed In Action Buried 7 Decades Later In GA Hometown

GEORGIA — More than 70 years after disappearing during combat in the Korean War, with his remains recovered several years later but not identified until 2021, a Georgia veteran was finally buried last week.

Master Sgt. Luther Grace, whose remains were found in December 2024, was buried Thursday in his hometown of Lumber City, Telfair County, 13 WMAZ reported.

A gathering was held at Jeff Davis Stadium in Hazlehurst, and Grace received full military honors, according to the news outlet.

"My brother-in-law was active in the veterans, and these people gave it all and give it all, and we should come and pay respect for those who have fallen for this country," family friend Steve Underwood said in the 13 WMAZ report. "We owed a few minutes out of our day to respect him and to show respect to his family."

Grace — a U.S. soldier who served in the Heavy Mortar Company, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division — disappeared in December 1950 after being deployed a month earlier to Chosin Reservoir in North Korea, according to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.

The division had formed into the 31st Regimental Combat Team at the time of deployment, and at midnight Nov. 27, the Chinese People's Volunteer Force attacked the 31st RCT, military officials said.

Grace was declared missing in action three days later.

Nearly depleted on supplies and ammunition, the 31st RCT consolidated and members established a column in an effort to head toward Hagaru-ri, where other U.S. forces were located on Dec. 1.

Once in enemy territory in Hudong-ni, an attack on the 31st RCT destroyed the U.S. column, military officials said. Some survivors were able to reach friendly lines.

Military officials said the Army did not have reason to believe Grace was being held as a prisoner of war.

Four years later, remains were secured after an exchange of remains from the war between the United Nations Command, the Chinese People's Volunteer Army and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, military officials said.

However, at the time, Grace could not be identified as part of the remains that had been recovered.

That is until 1956, when unidentified Korean War remains were taken to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, and Grace's remains were finally identified from the group in March 2021, military officials said.

He lies memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, and his name is inscribed on the Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C., military officials said.