Governor Matt Bevin has directed that flags at all state office buildings be lowered to half-staff Friday in honor of two Kentucky servicemen who were killed in action during World War II and the Korean War, but whose remains were only recently identified.
19-year old Private First Class James Cletuis Williams of Hopkinsville was killed in action on July 20, 1950, in Korea. He was serving as a medic with the 34th Infantry Regiment when he died while transporting patients from the Taejon Air Strip. Due to a large-scale enemy attack, officials say the Division was ordered to withdraw before Williams could be medically processed and evacuated. Williams’ remains, although unidentified at the time, were transferred to the Punchbowl/National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific and buried as a Korean War Unknown. His remains were successfully identified through investigative efforts in 2018.
Multiple agencies in Christian County escorted Williams’ body to Maddux-Fuqua-Hinton Funeral Home Wednesday morning from the Nashville airport.A graveside service with full military honors will be held Friday afternoon at 1:00 at Kentucky Veterans Cemetery West in Hopkinsville.
The second serviceman, 19-year old Navy Seaman 1st Class Millard Burk, Jr. of Pikeville, died during the attack on Pearl Harbor. Officials say he was assigned to the battleship USS Oklahoma, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, when the ship was attacked by Japanese aircraft on December 7, 1941. The USS Oklahoma sustained multiple torpedo hits, which caused it to quickly capsize. The attack on the ship resulted in the deaths of 249 crewmen, including Burk.
Burk’s unidentified remains were interred in the Punchbowl/National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific until 2015. His remains were recently identified after advanced scientific and circumstantial analysis by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency. He will be buried at the Punchbowl/National Memorial Cemetery in Honolulu, Hawaii on Friday.
