DALLAS - After more than 60 years, Private 1st Class Joseph A. Terrell, an infantryman with Company L, 3rd Battalion, 8th Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division during the Korean War, has been laid to rest at Dallas-Fort Worth National Cemetary here May 19.
Terrell's remains were returned to United States custody on July 16, 1993, and identified March 6, 2011, after a positive match to a DNA sample provided by Lucille Crowder, his cousin.
"It's been an experience," Crowder, a Gun Barrel, Texas, native, said.
Numerous members of his family, current members of 3-8 Cav., as well as members of the North Texas chapter of the Patriot Guard Riders attended the ceremony. Many of the family, including Arthur Smith, Terrell's nephew, had no idea of the relation until days before the ceremony, but still celebrated Terrell's return.
"We've got him home and he has his family," Smith, a St. Louis native. "All his family."
Capt. Ray Mattia, the rear detachment commander of 3-8 Cav., was thrilled to be a part of the ceremony.
"It's an honor to be there to finally welcome home one of our fallen Warhorse brothers and offer our support to a family left without answers for decades," Mattia said.
Terrell, a Dallas native, was listed as missing in action November 2, 1950, after a battle near Unsan, North Korea near a bend in the Nammyon River known as the "Camel's Head" and listed as killed in action on December 31, 1953.
Terrell's awards include a Combat Infantry Badge, a Purple Heart, Army Good Conduct Medal, an Asiatic Pacific Campaign Medal, a World War II Victory Ribbon, a National Defense Service Medal, Korean Service Medal with two campaign stars, a United Nations Ribbon, and a Republic of Korea Korean War Service Medal.
Terrell was one of more than 8,000 American soldiers who remained unaccounted for after the end of the Korean War.
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