[Congressional Record Volume 168, Number 158 (Thursday, September 29, 2022)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1001]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




         RECOGNIZING PRIVATE FIRST CLASS MELVIN J. LITTLE BEAR

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                           HON. DUSTY JOHNSON

                            of south dakota

                    in the house of representatives

                      Thursday, September 29, 2022

  Mr. JOHNSON of South Dakota. Madam Speaker, I rise today to 
recognize, honor, and welcome home Private First Class Melvin J. Little 
Bear of Standing Rock, South Dakota.
  PFC Little Bear entered the U.S. Army from South Dakota and served 
with Battery A, 15th Field Artillery Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division 
in the Korean War. He was captured by Chinese Communist Forces on 
February 13, 1951, as his unit made a fighting withdrawal from 
Changbong-ni to Wonju, South Korea. PFC Little Bear was marched to POW 
Camp 1 at Changsong, where he died of malnutrition, exhaustion, and 
pneumonia on July 21, 1951. During Operation GLORY, the United Nations 
Command and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea exchanged the 
remains of war dead, including those who had died in captivity. In 
September of 1954, as part of this operation, the D.P.R.K. returned to 
the United States a box containing PFC Little Bear's remains from 
Changsong. PFC Little Bear could not be identified at the time and his 
remains, designated X-14251, were interred at the National Memorial 
Cemetery of the Pacific, in Honolulu, Hawaii on February 16, 1956. In 
2020, his remains were disinterred from the NMCP and sent to the DPAA 
Laboratory for scientific testing. Laboratory analysis led to the 
identification of PFC Little Bear from among these remains.
  PFC Little Bear was posthumously awarded the Prisoner of War Medal, 
the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the 
National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation 
and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal. PFC Little Bear will be 
laid to rest on September 30th, in Little Eagle, South Dakota.
  Madam Speaker, PFC Little Bear made the ultimate sacrifice for this 
Nation. I ask that my colleagues join me in honoring his memory and his 
service. Currently over 80,000 Americans are listed as Prisoners of War 
or Missing in Action. It is a blessing that by reuniting PFC Little 
Bear with his family and his people, today that number is smaller by 
one.

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