Teen soldier who told his mother "no tears" identified after 75 years
U.S. Army Sgt. Celestino Chavez enlisted in the military when he was 17, according to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.
Updated on: April 15, 2026 / 10:03 AM EDT / CBS News
A 19-year-old New Mexico man killed in action during the Korean War has been accounted for, military officials said Tuesday.
Chavez's mother, Lupita Chavez, said she last heard from him on Nov. 27, 1950, when she received a letter that said "If anything happens to me, please mother, no tears," according to a news clipping shared by the DPAA.
Three days later, on Nov. 30, 1950, Chavez was wounded while defending his position near the Chosin Reservoir in Korea. The region, in present-day North Korea, was "the site of one one of the most brutal battles between UN and Chinese Communist Forces" during the war, according to the DPAA . About 30,000 United Nations soldiers and Marines fought against 120,000 enemy troops for several weeks between late November and mid-December 1950, the agency said. Over 1,000 U.S. service members were killed, and thousands more were wounded, according to the DPAA.
Chavez was "struck and seriously wounded" during the attack, according to a statement that accompanied a Silver Star posthumous medal he was awarded. However, he "refused to be evacuated ... because there was no other man available to replace him."