Cooper Texas

Sterling Jr. Geary, age 25, from Cooper, Texas, Delta county.

Spouse: Katheryn (Morris)
Children: Danny Geary

Service era: Korea
Military history: 35th Infantry Regiment

Date of death: Monday, November 27, 1950
Death details: On April 8, 2019, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Private First Class Sterling Geary Jr., missing from the Korean War. Private First Class Geary, who entered the U.S. Army from Texas, was a member of B Company, 1st Battalion, 35th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division. In late November 1950, the 35th Infantry Regiment advanced to the Ch’ongch’on River in support of Task Force Dolvin/Wilson. In the face of strong Chinese resistance, PFC Geary’s company set up defensive positions on Hill 234, south of Tong-dong Village, North Korea. He was captured on November 27 when Chinese forces seized the hill and forced the U.S. troops there to withdraw. Following his capture, he was marched to POW Camp 5 at Pyoktong, where he died of illness on March 31, 1951. He was buried near the camp. In 1993, the North Korean government turned over boxes containing the remains of U.S. service members killed in the Korean War. Box 17 held the comingled remains of U.S. soldiers that died at Camp 5. In 2000, two joint Korean and U.S. investigative teams excavated burial sites in Kujang County, North Korea and recovered remains associated with individuals who died in captivity at Camp 5. A set of partial remains recovered during these operations was determined to match some partial remains from Box 17. DPAA forensic analysts eventually identified these collective remains as those of PFC Geary. Private First Class Geary is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific.

Source: National Archives, 35th Infantry Regiment Association, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency