William Richard Sadewasser

In late November, 1950, Sadewasser was a member of Headquarters Battery, 57th Field Artillery Battalion, 7th Infantry Division. Approximately 2,500 U.S. and 700 South Korean soldiers assembled into the 31st Regimental Combat Team (RCT), which was deployed east of the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea, when it was engaged by overwhelming numbers of Chinese forces. By Dec. 6, the U.S. Army evacuated approximately 1,500 wounded service members; the remaining soldiers had been either captured or killed in enemy territory. Because Sadewasser could not be accounted for by his unit at the end of the battle, he was reported missing in action as of Nov. 28, 1950. During the 32nd Joint Recovery Operation in 2004, recovery teams conducted operations on the eastern side of the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea, on Hill 1221. During the excavation, the recovery team recovered possible human remains of at least 11 individuals. Laboratory analysis and circumstantial evidence were used in the identification of his remains. His name is permanently engraved in the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.