Howard Richard Belden

Korean War
Service #12107317
UnitHQ CO 31 INF 7 DIV
RankSergeant U.S. Army
Date of DeathDecember 1 1950
StatusRecovered
Memorialized
Courts of the Missing
Court
4
Korean Service Medal
National Defense Service Medal
Purple Heart
Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation
Republic of Korea War Service Medal
United Nations Service Medal
Combat Infantryman Badge
Sergeant Belden was awarded the Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Combat Infantryman Badge, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.
Notes

Sergeant Belden was a rifleman in the Security Platoon, Headquarters Company, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. On December 1, 1950 while defending his position near Haggaru, North Korea, he was shot in the back and placed in a truck for evacuation. The convoy was ambushed and he was listed as Missing in Action. He was presumed dead on December 31, 1953. 

Through the work of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, the remains of Sergeant Howard Richard Belden were accounted for in 2021. His name is permanently inscribed on the “Courts of the Missing” at the Honolulu Memorial.

rosetta medal
When an individual’s remains have been accounted for by the U.S. Department of Defense, a rosette is placed next to the name on the Wall/Tablet/Court of the Missing to mark that the person now rests in a known gravesite.