WASHINGTON –
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced today that U.S. Army Sgt. Celestino Chavez, Jr., 19, killed in action during the Korean War, was accounted for April 15, 2025.
In late 1950, Chavez was assigned to Battery D, 15th Anti-Aircraft Artillery, Automatic Weapons Battalion, 7th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on Dec. 2, when his convoy was ambushed by opposing forces in route to Hagaru-ri near the Jangjin (Chosin) Reservoir, Democratic People's Republic of Korea. The U.S. Army did not receive any indication that he was ever held as a prisoner of war and with no evidence of his continued survival, issued a presumptive finding of death on Dec. 31, 1953.
This is an initial release. The complete accounting of Chavez's case will be published once the family receives their full briefing.
For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving their country, visit the DPAA website at or on social media at , , , or .