Americus native, Korean War Medal of Honor recipient to be honored on Memorial Day

ANDERSONVILLE, Ga. (WALB) - A soldier from Americus killed during the Korean War and posthumously given the Medal of Honor will be interred on Memorial Day 2023.

Army Cpl. Luther H. Story will be honored and buried at Andersonville National Cemetery on May 29.

Story, who was only 19, was killed during a battle at Naktong River, South Korea on September 1, 1950, according to U.S. Army records.

He received the highest award given for combat in the U.S. after reports detailed he fought to cover his company’s withdrawal from an area where they were outnumbered. Story was reportedly injured during his Alpha Company’s withdrawal, refused to slow his fellow soldiers down and was “last seen he was firing every weapon available and fighting off another hostile assault,” per a statement from the Army.

Story’s father received the Medal of Honor on his behalf on June 21, 1951.

Prior to his remains being identified by DNA in April 2023, Story was buried as an “Unknown” at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu. That location is where all unidentified remains were buried.

The Army reports that over 7,500 Americans are still unaccounted for from the Korean War.

To read more on Story’s life and sacrifice, click here.

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