Felix Martinez Yanez was a United States Army soldier who was killed during the Battle of Taejon during the Korean War. His remains were located in March 1951 but were not identified until July 13, 2022.
Biography[]
Felix Yanez was born on July 10, 1931 in Douglas, Arizona to Pablo and Ignacia Yanez. He was baptized as "Pablo" at Clifton Sacred Heart. He had four sisters, two of which predeceased him, and loved music and played in a band. In January 1949, he enlisted in the United States Army and was assigned to the Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 19th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division.
On June 25, 1950, the Korean War began with the Korean People's Army invading South Korea. The 24th Infantry Division, being headquartered in Japan, was the first unit to be sent to South Korea despite the unit's being understrength and their weaponry being at least five years old. When they first arrived, their orders were to delay the North Korean advance to allow reinforcements to establish a perimeter around Pusan, South Korea.
Between July 14th and July 21st, 1950, the American 24th Infantry Division (19th, 21st, and 34th Infantry Regiments) and the North Korean 3rd and 4th Infantry Divisions and the 105th Armored Division fought in the Battle of Taejon. The Americans made a final stand around the city, holding a line along the Kum River east of the city. On July 16th, Felix was mortally wounded during combat, but his body could not be recovered due to the fighting.
Due to the lack of efficient communication, equipment, and heavy weapons, the outnumbered and untrained Americans were pushed back to the city several days later. After three days of intense warfare, they left the city. Despite the tactical North Korean victory, the 24th Infantry Division bought enough time for the defensive perimeter around Pusan to be established. On the American side, 1,128 were killed, 228 were wounded, and at least 2,400 remain unaccounted for. The casualty numbers for the North Koreans are unknown.
Aftermath[]
Felix was memorialized at the National Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington D.C. and the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial in Honolulu, Hawaii. He was posthumously awarded the following: the Purple Heart, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Service Medal, the Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation, the United Nations Service Medal, the Republic of Korea War Service Medal, and the Combat Infantryman Badge.
In March 1951, the remains of a US soldier were recovered along the main road the 19th Infantry Regiment withdrew from and south of the village of Tuman-ni, South Korea. Dubbed "X-789 Tanggok," they were buried later that month at the United Nations Memorial Cemetery in Busan, South Korea. Five months later, the Central Identification Unit in Kokura, Japan examined "X-789" for identification. Despite several attempts, the CIU could not identify the unknown soldier and declared him unidentifiable in August 1954. In 1956, 848 sets of unidentified remains from Kokura were buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, AKA the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
Identification[]
In August 2019, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency disinterred 652 Korean War unknown soldiers from the Punchbowl, including "X-789," as part of Phase Two of the Korean War Disinterment Project and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, for analysis. DPAA scientists used dental and anthropological analysis, chest radiograph comparison, and circumstantial evidence to identify the remains. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
Through these methods, "X-789" was identified as Felix Martinez Yanez on July 13, 2022. His identification was announced on July 17, 2022. He will be buried at the South Lawn Memorial Cemetery in Tucson, Arizona on September 3, 2022.
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