A soldier who perished during the Korean War and whose remains were finally identified following an exhaustive analysis will be laid to rest Friday in Riverside, with organizers encouraging anyone who wishes to pay tribute to him to line the way with flags along the funeral procession route.
U.S. Army Cpl. Daniel De Anda died in the winter of 1951 after he was taken prisoner with comrades following American forces’ withdrawal from Kunu-ri, North Korea, on Nov. 30, 1950, in the face of advancing communist troops.
“He was reported missing in action,” according to Garden Grove-based Honoring Our Fallen. “Based on later reports from returning American POWs, (it was verified) De Anda had been captured and taken to POW Camp 5, Pyoktong, North Korea, where he died.”
“During Operation Glory, the postwar exchange of war dead, 495 sets of remains from burial grounds around POW Camp 5 were returned to United Nations Command,” the nonprofit said. “All but 38 were identified.”
The unidentified remains were interred at a burial site designated the “Unknowns” in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii.
In 2019, a government-sponsored exhumation, “Project Glory,” led to analyses of the Unknowns by scientists at the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.
“The laboratory analysis and the totality of the circumstantial evidence available established (a set of) remains as those of De Anda,” Honoring Our Fallen stated.
The remains are now housed at Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier. However, in a formal service Friday, they will be transported to Riverside National Cemetery for burial.
“We reach out to the community … to ask your support lining the route with flags for this hero’s journey to his final resting place,” Honoring Our Fallen CEO Laura Herzog said.
The procession will depart Rose Hills around noon Friday, entering the Pomona (60) Freeway eastbound.
The motorcade will travel roughly 50 miles on the 60, passing through the City of Industry, Diamond Bar, Pomona, Chino, Ontario, Eastvale, Jurupa Valley, Riverside and the western fringe of Moreno Valley before turning southbound onto Interstate 215 and exiting on Van Buren Boulevard, where it will turn westbound back into Riverside, entering the national cemetery via Harmon Street — the main entrance.
Additional information is available at www.HonoringOurFallen.org.
More than 36,000 American service personnel were killed in the Korean War, according to federal data.