Korean War soldier identified after 75 years laid to rest Canton
Korean War hero buried 75 years after his death
Seventy-five years after his death a Korean War veteran is finally laid to rest. Corporal Anthony Konze died in 1950 while serving in South Korea. But his remains were not identified until last December.
CANTON, Ga. - After more than seven decades of being listed as missing in action, U.S. Army Corporal Anthony Konze has finally been identified and was laid to rest with full military honors in Georgia on Friday.
Who is Cpl. Anthony Konze?
The backstory:
Born in Brooklyn, New York, on March 1, 1930, Konze was the eldest of eight children. He enlisted in the Army on October 5, 1949, and served with Company C, 1st Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division during the Korean War. He was reported missing in action near Changyong, South Korea, on September 1, 1950.
Although deemed "non-recoverable" in 1956, Konze’s remains actually discovered in November 1951 in a closed foxhole near Sin’gi-ri, South Korea, alongside two other soldiers. His body was interred as an unknown at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific—known as the Punchbowl—in Honolulu.
It wasn’t until June 2021 that the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) disinterred the remains as part of a broader identification effort. On December 18, 2024, following extensive scientific analysis, Konze was officially identified.
Konze is survived by three sisters—Carol Roberson of the Atlanta area, and Irene Eagan and Loretta Bergsma of New York—as well as numerous extended family members who remember him as a beloved son, brother, uncle, and friend.
U.S. Army Corporal Anthony Konze. Photo courtesy of Darby Funeral Home
Korean War veteran's family given closure
What they're saying:
"December 18th, we got the call. And it was like the best Christmas present you could ever hope for," said Dominica Donna Jones, Cpl/ Konze’s niece. "Closure for him and the family."
"I promised her on her death bed she said if he's ever found will you take care of it and make sure he gets to a resting place. And I said yes never in my wildest dreams did I think this was going to happen," she added.
She has a message to other families who are still waiting for their loved ones to be identified.
"Keep hoping it may happen. I'm living proof that it did. So don't ever give up hope and pass onto the children in the family whatever information you know so that if you're not here they'll be able to take care of this."