After 75 years, Raymond Gilbert’s journey home is nearly over

STEUBENVILLE — He left for war more than 75 years ago and never made the journey home. On Nov. 14, 1st Lt. Raymond Banker Gilbert finally will return to Steubenville, the hometown he left behind when he went to fight in Korea.

The Steubenville High School graduate was wounded and captured by enemy forces in December 1950. He later died as a prisoner of war, leaving his family without the opportunity to bring him home or lay him to rest in his hometown.

Now, after his remains were identified by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency on June 4, 2026, that long wait is nearing its end. Gilbert is expected to return to Steubenville under military escort and be buried at Union Cemetery. A service is scheduled for noon Nov. 14, according to a family announcement.

Charles Dodson, who identified Gilbert as an extended family member, is urging the Steubenville community to turn out to honor the fallen soldier’s return.

In a public Facebook group post, Dodson called Gilbert “a son of Steubenville” and encouraged residents, particularly members of veterans organizations, American Legion and Veterans of Foreign Wars posts and City Council, to help spread the word and attend the homecoming service.

Dodson also asked whether anyone knew which city office oversees the veterans flags displayed throughout Steubenville. He said the family has a photograph of Gilbert and would like to see the city honor him with a flag.

Gilbert’s return represents more than the conclusion of a decades-long wait for answers. It is the homecoming of a loved one whose absence has stretched across generations — and an opportunity for his hometown to recognize his service and sacrifice.

Gilbert served in the U.S. Army with Battery B, 503rd Field Artillery Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division. He was among the American troops fighting in North Korea during the Battle of the Ch’ongch’on River in late November and early December 1950.

On Dec. 1, 1950, Gilbert was reported missing in action after he was wounded and captured during his unit’s withdrawal from Kunu-ri toward Sunchon, North Korea.

Through statements from American prisoners of war who were repatriated, the Army later determined that Gilbert died from his wounds on Jan. 31, 1951, near Mining Camp, a prisoner-of-war camp.

Although his death was eventually established, his remains remained unidentified for decades.

An unknown soldier for generations

After the war, remains recovered near Kunu-ri were returned to U.S. custody in 1954 as part of Operation Glory, an exchange of war dead between United Nations and communist forces.

The remains could not be identified at the time and were buried as an unknown service member at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, Hawaii.

For decades, the remains that would eventually be identified as Gilbert’s rested thousands of miles from Steubenville, while his name remained among those of Americans missing from the Korean War.

On July 1, 2024, the remains were disinterred and sent to a Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency laboratory for scientific testing and possible identification.

Laboratory analysis, combined with circumstantial and historical evidence, ultimately confirmed that the remains belonged to Gilbert. The agency announced his identification on June 4, 2026.

The identification could not give Gilbert’s family back the years spent without answers. But it established what happened to him and made it possible for him to return to the community where his story began.

A final journey home

Gilbert is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. His name also is inscribed on the Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, D.C., which was updated in 2022 to include the names of fallen service members.

Now, his return to Steubenville will give his family and the community an opportunity to remember the man behind the name and honor a sacrifice made more than seven decades ago.

According to the family announcement, Gilbert will return to Steubenville under military escort before being buried at Union Cemetery. A service is scheduled for noon Saturday, Nov. 14, with surviving family members expected to attend.

Dodson’s appeal asks residents and local organizations to help ensure Gilbert’s homecoming is recognized across the community. His request for a veterans flag bearing Gilbert’s memory also raises the possibility of a visible tribute from the city to one of its own.

More than 75 years ago, Gilbert went to war and never returned. His family was left with unanswered questions, and his remains were buried far from home without his name.

This November, that separation finally will end.