R.B. Cherry was a United States Army soldier who was declared missing in action on November 27, 1950, during the Korean War. His remains were recovered during Operation GLORY and identified on May 19, 2020.
Military service[]
R.B. Cherry was born on July 13, 1931, in Texas. From Dallas, Texas, he joined the United States Army and achieved the rank of Corporal and was assigned to Company G, 2nd Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division.
Between November 25 and December 2, 1950, the 25th Infantry Division, along with other United Nations Command units, participated in the Battle of the Ch'ongch'on River. During the battle, the Chinese People's Volunteer Army launched a series of surprise attacks along the Ch'ongch'on River Valley, which resulted in heavy losses for the UNC and forced all UN forces to retreat from North Korea to the 38th Parallel. The United Nations suffered a total of at least 11,000 casualties, and the Chinese and North Koreans had 30,000 casualties in total.
On November 27, Cherry was reported missing in action during the battle near Anju, North Korea, although details are unclear at this time. According to returned prisoners of war after the Korean War ended, Cherry was captured and was imprisoned at Camp 5. He died of pneumonia sometime in the winter of 1950, and his remains were reportedly buried in a cemetery near the camp and were not recovered.
Aftermath[]
Cherry was posthumously awarded the Purple Heart and the Combat Infantryman Badge. He was memorialized at the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial in Honolulu, Hawaii.
After the end of the Korean War on July 27, 1953, Operation GLORY took place. Between September 1 and October 30, 1954, North Korea turned over 4,200 remains, nearly 3,000 of which were determined to be American. Cherry's remains were among them, but they were not identified as his and were simply identified as "X-13460." X-13460 and 847 other unidentified remains would be buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, also known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.
Identification[]
In 2018, X-13460 and 13 other unidentified remains were disinterred following recommendations from researchers at the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency. Although the remains were believed to be from the 1st Marine Division (MARDIV) Cemetery that had been at Yudam-ni, North Korea, near the Chosin Reservoir, it was determined that some of the remains, including X-13460, actually came from the cemetery near Camp 5.
To identify the remains, DPAA scientists used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis. From these methods, X-13460 was identified as R.B. Cherry on May 19, 2020.
Cherry's remains were buried at the Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetery on July 22, 2022 with full military honors.