[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 37 (Tuesday, March 1, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E195]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]





  HONORING UNITED STATES ARMY SERGEANT HOWARD R. BELDEN FOR HIS BRAVE 
   SACRIFICE AT THE BATTLE OF CHOSIN RESERVOIR DURING THE KOREAN WAR

                                 ______
                                 

                         HON. ELISE M. STEFANIK

                              of new york

                    in the house of representatives

                         Tuesday, March 1, 2022

  Ms. STEFANIK. Madam Speaker, I rise today in honor of United States 
Army Sergeant Howard R. Belden. At the age of nineteen, Sergeant Belden 
gave his life in service to this nation at the Battle of Chosin 
Reservoir during the Korean War. After nearly seventy-one years, 
Sergeant Belden's remains were accounted for on October 14, 2021.
  Sergeant Belden was born in 1931 to James and Esther Belden. Shortly 
after the conclusion of World War II, Sergeant Belden enlisted in the 
Army at the age of seventeen. Two years later, he deployed to Korea as 
a member of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 31st Infantry 
Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. On December 1, 1950, his unit was 
attacked by enemy forces in North Korean territory near the Chosin 
Reservoir. This attack occurred in the midst of a battle that would 
become the bloodiest seventeen days of the entire conflict. During this 
stretch, a massive enemy offensive comprising of over one hundred 
thousand Chinese communist troops forced the withdrawal of the much 
smaller United Nations coalition. This assault claimed the lives of at 
least one thousand American soldiers, including Sergeant Belden.
  In the aftermath of the fighting, the Army listed Sergeant Belden as 
``unaccounted for'' and informed his family that he was missing in 
action and presumed dead. Decades later, in August 2018, North Korea 
agreed to release the remains of fifty-five fallen American service 
members back to the United States. Sergeant Belden's remains were among 
those returned and were finally identified on October 14, 2021. To his 
family's relief, the Army reclassified his status to ``accounted for'' 
on that day.
  In April 2022, Sergeant Belden will reach his final resting place in 
the Arlington National Cemetery, where he will be buried with full 
military honors. On behalf of New York's 21st Congressional District, I 
thank Sergeant Belden for his service and his sacrifice, and I am proud 
to honor his legacy of defending American liberty, freedom, and 
democracy.

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