On Dec. 6, 1950, U.S. Army Sgt. Elden Charles Justus of the 57th Field Artillery Battalion, 7th Infantry Division was a member of an American Regimental Combat Team fighting for its life while retreating from a Chinese onslaught at the Chosin Reservoir in Korea.
Justus, who was 23 years old at the time of the battle, graduated from Arcata High School before he enlisted in the Army in 1945 and was sent to Fort Sill, Oklahoma, for basic training. He was killed during the retreat at Chosin and in 1950 he was initially listed as “missing in action” until 1953 when that status was changed to “killed in action, body not recovered,” and he was promoted posthumously from sergeant to sergeant first class.
In April of this year, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced that it had positively identified human remains recovered from the battlefield as those of Elden C. Justus and on Monday his son and daughter will attend a ceremony in Sacramento as his remains are returned to the family.
Once they return to Arcata a ceremony will be held at the Elks Lodge there on Thursday at 11 a.m., an event that’s expected to draw several hundred people and give the surviving family members a chance to formally say goodbye to a man last seen in the United States in 1950.
“We have always known where and when Elden died,” his daughter, Lois Justus-Hyman, said as she and her older brother, Jack Justus, talked about their memories of their father. “He has always been a big part of our lives and we’ve always been close with his family. Jack and I believed we need to do what our mother and grandmother would have wanted us to do (in bringing him home).”
Jack Justus has memories as a little boy, not yet 4 years old, of his father getting on a plane in Colorado after the family had returned from Germany where Elden Justus had married their mother, Ruth Boensel of Darmstadt, Germany.
The family had returned to the States in January 1950 and according to Justus-Hyman, Elden Justus was reported leaving the United States for the last time on Sept. 14, 1950.
When Elden Justus reached Korea he would have found a country in chaos after North Korean military forces had swarmed over the border in June following clashes along the 38th parallel north in an attack on the Republic of Korea under dictator Syngman Ree. The North Korean Army would push South Korea to the brink of annihilation until counter-attacks turned the tide on the invaders.
In September 1950 the allies began the counter-offensive that would take them to the Yalu River in North Korea along the border with China, which led to Chinese involvement in the war.
Elden Justus was one of about 2,500 Americans along with 700 Republic of Korea Army troops of Regimental Combat Team 31 who were caught in the Chinese invasion.
“The letter my mom got said he was last seen directing his men in repulsing an enemy attack on or about Dec. 6 in the vicinity of Hagaru-ri,” Justus-Hyman said. They were providing cover for the breakout and they were overwhelmed by the Chinese and dying at a rapid rate. They would regroup and then try to get enough men together to form and hold a perimeter for the next attack.”
The report from the POW/MIA Accounting notes that a forensic examination of the remains determined that Elden Justus died of “blast injuries” and that based on the historical record “the date of death is consistent with the date of loss of 6 December 1950.”
In April, the Department of the Army determined that Elden Justus was entitled to decorations including a Purple Heart, an Army Good Conduct Medal, World War II Victory Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Korean Service Medal with two Bronze Service Stars, Presidential Unit Citation-Navy, United Nation Service Medal and a Republic of Korea Presidential Unit Citation.
Those decorations will be added to the memorabilia the family already has of a man they haven’t seen since before Eisenhower was elected president.
Ruth Boensel-Justus would remarry, wedding a local man Justus-Hyman and Jack Justus would grow up calling dad: Hoopa native Harvey McCardie, a World War II veteran who was 36 when he married the then-24-year-old Boensel.
According to Justus-Hyman and Jack Justus, they had happy childhoods and a happy home life. The memory of their father never totally faded.
“We always knew the facts of his death and we were able to handle it,” Jack Justus said, adding that it may have been different if they had been in their teenage years. “Our stepdad took in our mother and the two of us and he made our home like he was our father. For me, personally, I never really thought of Elden Justus that much unless my mother brought it up but I always had a photo of him that reminded me of him. We were involved in our lives, living our lives and being raised by our dad in Hoopa. We never lacked for a father. We call him (McCardie) our dad and we call Elden our father.”
It helped that the two children had their mother and Elden’s mother to remind them of the man they barely knew. The emotion from both Justus-Hyman and Jack Justus is palpable when they sit and talk about growing up with just a memory and a photograph.
“His memory was always a part of our lives,” Justus-Hyman said, as she described the day she learned her father’s remains had been identified. “When Jeannette (Sgt. 1st Class Duus, U.S. Army Public Affairs) reached me, the first thing I did was cry,” Justus-Hyman said. “Why isn’t mom here? She needed this. She waited for this her whole life and our grandmother did too. Our mother didn’t get over it but she had a very long and productive life and at the end it all came back to her. Our grandmother also remarried and she had a great life too but she never ever stopped thinking he would come to the door.”
SFC Elden Charles Justus will come home, 68 years later. As his casket is transported from Sacramento to Arcata it will be joined by veterans in Lake County who will escort the casket to the county line. When the party reaches the Humboldt County line it will be met by members of the American Legion and local law enforcement will take part as well.
Elden Justus will arrive at Paul’s Mortuary in Arcata on Tuesday ahead of Thursday’s burial ceremony at Greenwood Cemetery, an event that will be attended by the Korean Consul General in San Francisco.
An Army Honor Guard will be in attendance as will a bagpiper who will pay an assortment of tunes. A reception will follow. For both Justus-Hyman and Jack Justus, there is a sense of relief they will carry to the ceremony.
“Thank goodness we lived long enough to do this.”
Dan Squier can be reached at 707-441-0528.
