[Congressional Record Volume 170, Number 171 (Tuesday, November 19, 2024)]
[House]
[Page H6098]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




      HONORING THE LIFE AND SERVICE OF SERGEANT KESTER B. HARDMAN

  (Mr. MOONEY asked and was given permission to address the House for 1 
minute and to revise and extend his remarks.)
  Mr. MOONEY. Mr. Speaker, I rise to honor the life and sacrifice of 
Sergeant Kester B. Hardman of Ritchie County, located in the beautiful 
Second District that I represent.
  Sergeant Hardman, a dedicated serviceman of the Army's Second 
Infantry Division in the Korean war was reported missing in action 
after intense combat near Suncheon, South Korea.
  North Korean authorities reported he had died in 1951 as a prisoner 
of war, but his remains were never identified. In 1954, 848 
unidentified remains were recovered from North Korea and laid to rest 
among countless other unidentified servicemen at the National Memorial 
Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii.
  After 70 years of being unidentified, in May of this year, the 
fantastic lab of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency was able to use 
dental and medical records to identify Sergeant Hardman and notify his 
family.
  Sergeant Hardman was finally laid to rest on October 17 of this year 
in his hometown of Smithville with the honor and dignity he deserves.

                          ____________________