Mathis Otho Ball Jr. was a United States Army soldier who went missing in action during the Korean War on July 12, 1950. His remains were located in October 1951 and were identified on August 14, 2018.
Biography[]
Mathis Ball Jr. was born on January 7, 1930, in Collin County, Texas, to Mathis and Glady Stanley Ball. At some point in his life, he joined the United States Army and was a Private First Class of Company M, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division.
Between July 10 and 12, 1950, the 21st Infantry Regiment fought the North Korean People's Army's 4th Infantry Division and 105th Armored Division at the Battle of Chochiwon. The Americans, deployed along roads and railroads in between the two villages of Chonui and Chochiwon, South Korea, were to delay the two advancing NKPA divisions as much as possible. During the second day of the battle, Company M retreated from their defensive position near Chochiwon and regrouped the next day. Mathis was reported missing in action as he was not present when the unit regrouped, but no one saw him during the fighting.
The battle was a North Korean victory, and the 21st Infantry Regiment suffered heavily in casualties and equipment losses (409 killed, 256 wounded, or taken prisoner, and nine tanks destroyed). However, they did buy the rest of the 24th Infantry Division enough time to set up blocking positions along the Kum River near Taejon, South Korea.
Aftermath[]
Mathis was not among the prisoners of war or identified remains recovered when the Korean War ended on July 27, 1953. He was declared dead on December 31, 1953. He was posthumously awarded the following awards: the Purple Heart, the Combat Infantryman's Badge, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation, and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal. Additionally, he was memorialized in Court 4 of the Honolulu Memorial Courts of the Missing in Honolulu, Hawaii, and the National Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. He also has a cenotaph in the Bokchito Cemetery in Bokchito, Oklahoma.
In October 1951, the remains of an unidentified American soldier were recovered from an isolated, unmarked grave near Chochiwon. The remains were taken to the United States Military Cemetery in Tanggok, South Korea, and were later sent to the Central Identification Unit in Kokura, Japan, for further processing. The remains could not be identified and were buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, AKA the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
Identification[]
In 2017, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency exhumed the remains in hopes of identifying them. Thanks to the advances in forensic technology, the remains were identified as Mathis Otho Ball Jr. on August 14, 2018. The identification was announced the next day. By the time of his identification, both of his parents had passed away and were buried at Bokchito Cemetery. Mathis was buried there on November 18, 2018, with full military honors.