Korean war soldier’s remains to be buried in Coffeyville Saturday

COFFEYVILLE, Kan. – The remains of a Soldier killed during the Korean War will be interred at Restlawn Memorial Park Cemetery, Coffeyville, Kansas, June 26. The funeral for Army Pvt. 1st Class Bill F. Hobbs will be held at Ford Wulf Bruns Funeral Home, Coffeyville, preceding the interment.

A native of South Coffeyville, Oklahoma, Hobbs was a member of Heavy Mortar Company, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division, when he was reported missing in action Nov. 30, 1950, when his unit was attacked by enemy forces near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea. Following the battle, his remains could not be recovered. He was just 20 years old.

Almost seventy years later, Hobbs’ remains were turned over by North Korea on July 27, 2018. He was accounted for by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency on April 20, 2020, after his remains were identified using circumstantial evidence and anthropological and mitochondrial DNA analysis.

Hobbs’ name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

Remains of soldier found in Korea identified as Oklahoman

SOUTH COFFEYVILLE, Okla. (AP) – Remains turned over to the United States by North Korea have been identified as those of a soldier from Oklahoma who disappeared during the Korean War more than 70 years ago, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency said Thursday.

The remains identified as those of Army Pfc. Bill Hobbs of South Coffeyville were among 55 boxes of remains returned to the U.S. in June 2018. The boxes “likely” contain more than 55 individuals, according to the DPAA.

They were taken to Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, and identified using such methods as DNA analysis.

Hobbs was 20 when he was reported missing in action on Nov. 30, 1950, after his unit was attacked near the Chosin River in North Korea. He was a member of Heavy Mortar Company, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division.

His remains will be returned for burial scheduled for June 26 in Coffeyville, Kansas.

Bernice Police Department mourns the loss of an officer

BERNICE, Okla. – The Bernice, Oklahoma Police Department announced it lost one of its own. Officer Matt North passed away Saturday morning after suffering chest pains.

According to a Facebook post from the department, Officer North began suffering chest pains after he finished his shift Friday. He sought medical attention and was discharged from the hospital later that night. North returned to the hospital the next morning where he was pronounced dead.

The Bernice Police Department is asking people keep the North family “in your prayers at this time of loss and grief.”

 

It is with the deepest of sadness and disbelief that I write this post today. Bernice Police Department lost one of its…

Posted by Bernice OK Police Department on Saturday, March 20, 2021