In late 1950, during the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir, 30,000 UN soldiers faced harsh conditions in the North Korean mountains against over 120,000 Chinese troops. Among them was 19-year-old Cpl. John Albert Spruell from Cortez, Colorado, who went missing in action.
Years later, a set of remains, designated as Unknown X-15754, was tentatively associated with Spruell and buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. Despite no definitive proof, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency proposed disinterring 652 Korean War Unknowns in 2018 to identify them.
