frescas10

RAMON MENDOZA FRESCAS

B CO 35 INF RGT 25 INF DIV

Army

Hostile, Died While Missing (MIA)

Date Of Loss: November 27, 1950

PFC - E3

Service Number: RA18255466  MOS: 04745

Home of Record: EL PASO COUNTY, TX

Place of Loss: North Korea

Born:
Year of Birth: 1930

Caucasian

Korean War Project Key No: 9922

Date Of Final Status: (November 27, 1950)
Per Jerry Guin, remains found and returned Dec 2000, Hill 222

Entry: 21339
35th Infantry Regiment

B Company, Ramon Frescas

CRESSIE B. Johnson wrote on 2001-12-09 16:31:03.0

Comments: Ramon was from El Paso in a section called Smeltertown. One of his friends from Smeltertown was Carlos Lopez who was sent to Co E of the 27th Regt. Carlos was decorated and promoted to M/Sgt. He died a heroic death on the same night as Ramon and about a mile to the west. I would like to hear from any Cacti B Company vets concerning the battle on that night. E Company 27th got a Presidential Citation for their fight and B Company should have also received one from what I read. Their fight appeared to have been as great or greater than the E Company fight. Dif they?

Keywords: Pfc Ramon Frescas was MIA in TF Dolvin on 27 Nov 1950. His body was turned over to US in 1999 by North Korea.Identified this year. Interred at Ft Bliss Cemetery on Dec 7,2001

Korean War MIA laid to rest at Bliss

Cindy Ramirez-Cadena

El Paso Times

The melancholy trumpet that echoed over the burial of Cpl.

Ramon Mendoza Frescas on Friday brought tears and smiles to the

family who’d waited 50 years to hear the music.

“I cried 50 years ago, and 1 wasn’t sure I’d cry again,” said Jose

Frescas, 80, older brother of the corporal who had been missing in

action since the Korean War.

“It still hurts, but at least he’s home now. We can all rest in

peace,” Frescas said.

His brother had been listed as missing in action from B Company,

35th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, since 1950 after the

Chinese launched a massive offensive against United Nations forces.

His remains were exhumed in North Korea in April 1999 and

recently identified by the Central Identification Laboratory in

Hawaii. He was buried Friday with full military honors at Fort Bliss

National Cemetery.

The corporal, who grew up in the former Fort Bliss area known

as Smeltertown, is now listed as KIA–killed in action.

He was 20 years old when he died, though it was unclear whether

he died Nov. 26 or 27, 1950. Frescas was later awarded the Purple

Heart and the Korean Service Medal.

Retired Army Sgt. 1st Class Art Seelig was one of the few men

who survived the Chinese attack. He attended the burial to say hello

and goodbye to one of his comrades. “That night, all hell broke

loose,” he said. “We got a lot of wounded off the hill, but very few

made it.”

Seelig, who served with the 27th Regiment of 25th Infant

Division near Frescas’unit in Korea, said it’s never too late for vet-

erans to be buried with honors.

“It gives it’s a sense of closure and brings back the soldiers to the

country they died for,” Seelig said.

About 580,000 United Nations and South Korean soldiers were

killed during the three-year Korean War.

Retired Army Sgt. C.J. Gomez of the Military Order of the

Purple Heart of El Paso said Frescas might have been lucky despite

his death.

“Many of our servicemen did not make it home at all,” he said in

a quavering voice.

Frescas’ family said the corporal was ordered to go overseas six

months before the end of his enlistment.

“I’ve been asking God for many, many years to bring him

home,” Frescas’older sister, Jenoveva Gloria Frescas-Parra, said as

she held the rusted dog tags that once hung around her brother’s

neck. They were handed to the family Friday.

“Finally, the day came,” she said.