According to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, in December 1950, Drews was assigned to King Company, 3rd Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. For several days, his unit was engaged in intense fighting with the Chinese People’s Volunteer Forces near the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea. Drews went missing in action on Dec. 12, 1950.
The Defense Department said Drews was listed as missing in action until this past November when DNA tests determined remains returned to the United States from Korea were his.
The military said that in July 2018, following a meeting between President Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong-un, North Korea turned over 55 boxes purported to contain the remains of American servicemen killed during the war. Master Sgt. Drews’ remains were among them.
His name is listed on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery in Honolulu, Hawaii. A rosette will be placed next to his name indicating he has been accounted for.
According to Defense Department spokesman Bill Costello, Master Sgt. Drews will be buried Wednesday in at Little Woods Cemetery in St. Charles.
Costello said Drews' family does not wish to make any public statements.
For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving our country, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil, find us on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa or call (703) 699-1420/1169.