Trepasso, Joseph
Army Corporal

Joseph Trepasso from New York, Fulton county.

Service era: Korea

Date of death: Friday, December 1, 1950
Death details: On May 9, 2016, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Corporal Joseph Trepasso, missing from the Korean War.

Corporal Trepasso joined the U.S. Army from New York and was a member of Company L, 3rd Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. In late November 1950, Chinese Communist Forces launched a large-scale attack against U.S. troops at the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea, forcing them to withdraw south. CPL Trepasso’s unit was positioned on the eastern side of the reservoir at the outset of the attack, and he was reported missing in action once the withdrawal was complete. He was never reported to be a prisoner of war, and he was not identified among remains returned to U.S. custody immediately following the conflict’s ceasefire. In 2001, a joint U.S. and North Korean investigative team recovered remains from a site in the vicinity of the Chosin Reservoir. Forensic analysis eventually allowed for CPL Trepasso to be identified from among these remains. 

Source: National Archives, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency