A South Georgia soldier killed in action during the Korean War is returning home. U.S. Army Master Sgt. Luther Grace, 34 at the time of his death, of Lumber City, was killed on November 30, 1950, in North Korea after the Battle of Chosin Reservoir.
Born on December 10, 1915, in Telfair County, he enlisted in the U.S. Army on June 11, 1940, and served continuously for over 10 years, including service in World War II. He was assigned to the Heavy Mortar Company, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division during the Korean War. MSgt Grace was reported missing in action on November 30, 1950, in the vicinity of the Chosin Reservoir, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, now known as North Korea. There was no evidence that he was held as a prisoner of war, and the U.S. Army issued a presumptive finding of death on December 31, 1953.
In 1954, the United Nations Command and the Chinese Communist Forces exchanged the remains of fallen service personnel in an effort named Operation GLORY. MSgt Grace’s remains could not be identified by the Central Identification Unit Laboratory at Kokura, Japan, at the time, and were designated Unknown X-15760. In 1956, all the unidentified Korean War remains, including Unknown X-15760, were transferred, as Unknowns, to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, also known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu, Hawaii.
In July 2018, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency researchers and anthropologists proposed a plan to disinter and identify the 652 Korean War unknown burials from the Punchbowl. Unknown X-15760 was disinterred on March 29, 2021, during phase three of the Korean War Disinterment Project and transferred to the DPAA Laboratory. After several years of DNA, dental, and anthropological analysis and based on the totality of the circumstantial evidence available, the DPAA announced that U.S. Army Master Sgt. Luther Grace was accounted for on December 18, 2024. MSgt Grace’s name is recorded on the American Battle Monument Commission’s Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl in Honolulu, Hawaii, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.
In his short time on earth, MSgt Grace demonstrated an unwavering commitment to serving others, displaying courage and selflessness as he answered the call to defend the values and freedoms we hold dear. His sacrifice for our country will forever be remembered.
During MSgt Grace’s absence, members of his family who have passed away include his father and mother, George Grace, Sr. and Sarah Elizabeth Brewer Grace; his brothers and sisters, Eva Clark (Charlie), Viola Grace, Amanda Hamons (Dan), Leola Powell (Bruce), George Grace, Jr. (Elizabeth), and Otis Grace; paternal grandparents, Joseph A. Grace and Amanda Brantley Grace; maternal grandparents Luthur Brewer and Sara Elizabeth Walker Brewer; paternal great-grandparents, William Grace and Jane Carpenter Grace; maternal great-grandparents, Rev. Jeremiah G. Walker and Sara Caroline Benson Walker; aunts and uncles, Nancy Grace Pope (Mack), Francis Grace Brewer (Thomas, Sr.), Mary Grace Browning (G.E.), Amanda Grace Sears (Columbus), Joseph Clifford Grace, Benjamin S. Grace (Irene), William Aaron Grace (Catherine), Annie Brewer Ray (Daniel), Walter A. Brewer (Annie), Herman Brewer (Beulah), William Owen Brewer, Eva Brewer Brewton (Caughey), and Emma Brewer Geiger (Ebb); and nieces and nephews, Jasper L. Powell, Mattison “Matt” Haymons, Lester Haymons, Mark Haymons, and Florence Haymons Moore.
MSgt Grace’s surviving family includes his nephew, George “Kelly” Grace (Brenda) of Hazlehurst, and his nieces, Marilyn Grace Gribble of Baxley, Saralyn Grace Stapleton (David) of Lumber City, Sylvia Haymons Gellner of Maryland, Betty Jo Haymons Barber of Satellite Beach, FL, and Tonita Haymons Leggette of Moultrie.
MSgt Luther Grace gave his all, and now, seventy-five years later, he will be brought from Hawaii back to his home state on Wednesday, April 30, 2025, and will be escorted to Hazlehurst following his arrival. Further details will be announced so that the public can view the procession into Jeff Davis County.
A viewing of MSgt Grace’s U.S. Army dress uniform with awarded medals will be held on Friday, May 2, 2025, from 5:00-8:00 P.M. at Wainright-Parlor Funeral Home in Hazlehurst, Georgia.
MSgt Grace will be honored with a full U.S. military funeral service at the Jeff Davis High School Yellow Jackets Stadium in Hazlehurst, Georgia, on Saturday, May 3, 2025, at 11:00 A.M. MSgt Grace will be laid to rest following the service in the Fishing Creek Sapfield Cemetery in Lumber City, Georgia.
Honorary Pallbearers will be the members of the Jeff Davis County Veterans Association, Veterans of Telfair County, and all other veterans in attendance.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions can be made to the Jeff Davis County Veterans Association or any veterans association of your choice.
Wainright-Parlor Funeral Home is deeply honored to serve the Grace family during this time and invites the public to pay their respects to this brave hero.