Huntley Police Department shares more details after honoring U.S. Army Corporal Zoellick

HUNTLEY — As many locals know, on Oct. 31, the Huntley Fire Protection District and the Huntley Police Department both had the honor of paying their respects to Corporal William Martin Zoellick as his remains were transported to their final resting place.

According to the Huntley Police Department, Zoellick was killed in action during the Korean War when he was only 18 years old.

For some background, in the late 1950s, Zoellick served as a member of Company B, 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, and the 2nd Infantry Division of the U.S. Army.

On Nov. 30, 1950, he was reported missing in action after his company encountered a Chinese People’s Volunteer Forces (CPVF) roadblock near Kunu-ri, North Korea.

In a CPVF report that was provided to the United Nations Command back in August 1953, it was discovered that Zoellick had died on Feb. 27, 1951, at Prisoner of War Camp #1.

During Operation Glory, which occurred in September 1954, North Korea returned several remains that were reportedly recovered from Pyoktong, also known as Prisoner of War Camp #5.

The remains were given to the United Nations Command, although one set of remains that were labeled only as Unknown X-14319, were not able to be identified at the time and were subsequently buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, also commonly referred to as the Punchbowl, located in Honolulu, Hawaii.

In July 2018, the Defense POW (Prisoner of War)/MIA (Missing in Action) Accounting Agency (DPAA) proposed a plan to disinter 652 Korean War unknown remains from the Punchbowl.

A year later, in September 2019, the DPAA exhumed the remains of Unknown X-14319 as part of Phase Two of the Korean War Disinterment Plan. The remains were sent to the DPAA laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, to be analyzed.

It wasn’t until recently, that the DPAA finally determined that the remains labeled as Unknown X-14319, were those of 18-year-old Army Corporal Zoellick of Des Plaines. He was at long last accounted for as of Feb. 22, 2022.

To identify Zoellick’s remains, DPAA scientists used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence.

Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.

Zoellick’s name is recorded on the American Battle Monuments Commission’s Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.

His name is among others who are still missing from the Korean War.

The Huntley Police Department states that a rosette will now be placed next to Zoellick’s name to indicate that he has been accounted for.

Zoellick’s remains will be buried on Nov. 10 in Belvidere.

For family and funeral information, individuals can contact the Army Casualty Office at 800-892-2490.