Korean War MIA to be buried at Arlington

WASHINGTON, July 24 (UPI) -- Remains found in North Korea have been identified as the body of a U.S. soldier missing since the Battle of Unsan in 1950, the Defense Department said Thursday.

U.S. Army Master Sgt. Cirildo Valencio of Carrizo Springs, Texas, is to be buried Aug. 4 in Arlington National Cemetery outside Washington.

Valencio was with the 1st Cavalry Division when it was struck by parts of two Chinese divisions on Nov. 1, 1950, at a place near Unsan known as the Camel's Head formed by the junction of two rivers. The 3rd Battalion, which Valencio belonged to, suffered such heavy casualties that it effectively ceased to exist as a fighting unit.

More than 350 soldiers were missing after the battle.

Valencio's body was discovered in 2002 when a joint U.S.-North Korean team excavated a burial site in the Camel's Head.

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