Political Quotes

“Mr. President, earlier this week, more than 71 years after he was killed in the Korean war, U.S. Army Private First Class Melvin J. Little Bear was returned home to McLaughlin, SD. In 1951, Private First Class Little Bear, a native of Standing Rock, was a member of A Battery, 15th Field Artillery Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division. On February 13, 1951, he was reported missing in action after his unit was attacked by Chinese communist forces, at which point his unit conducted a 2-day fighting withdrawal from Changbong-ni, South Korea, to Wonju. He was captured and held as a prisoner of war at POW Camp Number 1 in North Korea, where POW reports show he died in captivity later that summer. In 1954, Private First Class Little Bear's unidentified remains were returned to U.N. command under Operation GLORY. However, because investigators were unable to identify to whom they belonged, his remains were buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, HI, in 1956. Through the dedication and preservation of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, the remains of Private First Class Little Bear were finally identified on July 13, 2022, through DNA matching. Seventy-one years after being captured and killed, his remains have finally been returned to his family in McLaughlin, SD, where he will be laid to rest in eternal peace at All Nations Veteran's Cemetery on September 30, 2022. I consider it an honor to pay tribute to Private First Class Melvin J. Little Bear.…”