Gloria Valle has no memories of her uncle, U.S. Army Cpl. Eriverto Ortiz, but she does remember the day in 1950 when her family received word that he was missing-in-action during the Korean War.
“I remember my mother, my grandma and my aunts crying,” said Valle, a longtime Elgin resident.
The family moved to Elgin from their small northeastern Texas town nine years after receiving the news. For 74 years, they were provided no other information about Ortiz other than he was presumed dead.
That is until last month, when Valle learned her uncle’s remains had been positively identified. Now she’s planning a full military funeral to honor Ortiz, working with Operation LOVE, an acronym for Love Our Veterans Elgin, and the Symonds-Madison Funeral Home in Elgin.
“We would like to extend an invitation to all community members to join Operation LOVE in honoring Cpl. Ortiz’s legacy and sacrifice,” said Daniel Symonds, who owns Symonds-Madison. “Let’s come together to celebrate his homecoming and pay our respects.”
Operation LOVE was launched in 2020 by Symonds and his wife, Joy, and has held funerals for 10 veterans whose remains were unclaimed over the last four years.
Joy and Daniel Symonds, seen here in 2020, launched Operation LOVE four years ago. The organization is helping coordinate the Elgin burial services for U.S. Army Cpl. Eriverto Ortiz, a Korean War soldier whose remains were identified in August after 74 years. (Courier-News file photo)
Valle’s family is originally from the small Texas town of Batesville, located between Laredo and San Antonio. Her mother, Rita Ortiz Ruiz, was the oldest of four siblings and Ortiz the youngest.
“This was her baby brother. This was her only brother,” Valle said.
He joined the Army in 1948. He was part of the E Company, 2nd Battalion, 27th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, according to his biography.
On Sept. 22, 1950, the 27-year-old’s company was fighting to gain control of two Korean cities. In the aftermath of the battle that day, he was reported “unrecoverable.”
“As I was growing up, I remember people asking my mom about my uncle,” said Valle, who was 5 years old when her uncle went into the military. “All she said was he was killed in the Korean War. And they never heard anything. He wasn’t found.”
Ortiz’s family moved to Elgin in 1959. Her mother had no idea that the military had recovered remains from the area where Ortiz was last seen, Valle said.
A “tentative association” was made between a set of remains labeled Unknown X 32 Pusan and Ortiz, according to a Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency news release. Because there was no definitive identification, the remains were buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu, the release said.
The agency started its Korean War Disinterment Project in July 2018 in an effort to use modern techonology, including dental and anthropological analysis and DNA, to identify 652 unknown Korean War soldiers.
After two of Valle’s cousins submitted their DNA to a data base as part of the effort, Unknown X 32 Pusan’s remains were officially identified as Ortiz in August, the release said.
Valle’s mother would have been his next of kin to be notified of the discovery but she died in 2006. They were entrusted to Valle instead.
“It’s very important for me to give him the best,” Valle said. “I would like for everybody to help me welcome him home so we can bury his remains and he can rest in peace.”
Her uncle will be interred at Bluff City Cemetery in Elgin, where her mother is also buried. It has a special section set aside for veterans.
Because her family has been in Elgin for so long, there are more family members here than in Texas, she said.
Symonds said this is the first time Operations LOVE is holding services for a MIA veteran.
The military funeral will be an open casket with the remains wrapped in a wool Army blanket, Symonds said. A uniform and dog tags will be placed on top of the blanket and an American flag draped over the coffin.
Symonds, a veteran himself, said he believes is important to honor Ortiz. It’s an emotional experience to attend a funeral for a MIA soldier returning home, he said.
“I’m proud a brother is home. He’s no longer lost in the woods,” Symonds said. “As a soldier, you leave no one behind. It’s good to know we found him and he’s coming home.”
Visitation for Ortiz will be held from 3 to 8 p.m. Sunday, Oct. 27, and 11 a.m. to noon Monday, Oct. 28, at Symonds-Madison Funeral Home, 305 Park St.
A funeral mass will be held at 12:30 p.m. Oct. 28 at St. Mary Church of Elgin, 400 Fulton St., Elgin, with the Rev. Robert Camacho officiating. Interment with full military honors will follow at Bluff City Cemetery, 945 Bluff City Blvd.
Gloria Casas is a freelance reporter for The Courier-News.
