Son of Frances Mestas Brunkoski, Trinidad, CO. Victor Brunkoski, stepfather.
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In Loving Memory of Sgt. Orace Joseph Mestas UPDATE
June 12, 2025
Sgt. Orace Joseph Mestas 1st Company 3rd Battalion 21st infantry Regiment 24th Infantry Division
Sgt. Orace J Mestas was reported missing and killed while serving our country in the Korean War. He was killed on April 25, 1951 north of Seoul, South Korea during an ambush when the enemy overran their position. Thru the efforts of the United States Army his remains were recovered and identified on January 31, 2025.
On February 4, 2025 his family was notified of the positive identification and after 74 years would return to Colorado and would receive a full military burial with honors.
He was born on June 18, 1930 (28) to Felix Mestas and Frances Mestas Brunkoski.
Sgt. Orace J. Mestas is survived by Sister Darlene Garcia and numerous Nephews and Nieces. He is proceeded in death by his parents and stepfather Victor Brunkoski, his siblings Mary Breedlove, Grace Silva, Gertrude Vallejos, Sadie Abeyta, Vivian Martinez, Richard Mestas and Victor John Brunkoski.
Welcome home Sgt. Orace J. Mestas. You gave the ultimate sacrifice for our country. You will never be forgotten.
Sgt. Orace J Mestas' visitation will begin at 10:00 am on Friday, June 20, 2025. Services will be at 1:00 p.m. at the Mullare Murphy Funeral Home on June 20th, 2025 with interment at the Trinidad Catholic Cemetery with full military honors. A military flyover will be at the Trinidad Catholic Cemetery between 2:20 and 2:25 pm.
You can watch the service live at https://www.youtube.com/@TrinidadTimesTV71.
Thomas Murphy
Mullare-Murphy Funeral Home
335 East Main Street, Trinidad, Colorado
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DEFENSE POW/MIA ACCOUNTING AGENCY
Personnel Profile:
Service Member
Sergeant ORACE JOSEPH MESTAS
On January 31, 2025, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Sergeant Orace Joseph Mestas, missing from the Korean War.
Sergeant Mestas entered the U.S. Army from Colorado and was a member of I Company, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He went missing north of Seoul, South Korea, as his unit supported defensive rearguard tank engagements during a withdrawal on April 25, 1951, though the circumstances surrounding his loss are unknown. Following the ceasefire, a surviving member of this combat reported that Sergeant Mestas was killed during a an ambush when the enemy overran their position on April 25. At the time, the overwhelming enemy fire forced the survivors to withdraw before they could recover their fallen comrades. The U.S. Army determined him to be nonrecoverable on January 16, 1956. In April 1951, members from the 565th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company had recovered one set of remains in the vicinity of the defensive position which the 3rd Battalion occupied at the time Sergeant Mestas went missing. However, those remains could not be identified at the time and were subsequently buried as an Unknown in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. In July 2018, the DPAA proposed a plan to disinter 652 Korean War Unknowns from the NMCP. In March 2019, as part of Phase One of the Korean War Disinterment Project, this set of unidentified remains were sent to the DPAA laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, for analysis. The laboratory analysis and the totality of the circumstantial evidence available established the remains as those of Sergeant Mestas.
Sergeant Mestas is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. His name is also inscribed on the Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC, which was updated in 2022 to include the names of the fallen.
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PUBLIC NEWS RELEASE, 6/19/2025:
Sgt. Orace Joseph Mestas 1st Company 3rd Battalion 21st infantry Regiment 24th Infantry Division
Sgt. Orace J Mestas was reported missing and killed while serving our country in the Korean War. He was killed on April 25, 1951 north of Seoul, South Korea during an ambush when the enemy overran their position. Thru the efforts of the United States Army his remains were recovered and identified on January 31, 2025.
On February 4, 2025 his family was notified of the positive identification and after 74 years would return to Colorado and would receive a full military burial with honors.
He was born on June 18, 1930 (28) to Felix Mestas and Frances Mestas Brunkoski.
Sgt. Orace J. Mestas is survived by a sister and numerous nephews and nieces. He is proceeded in death by his parents and stepfather Victor Brunkoski, his siblings Mary Breedlove, Grace Silva, Gertrude Vallejos, Sadie Abeyta, Vivian Martinez, Richard Mestas and Victor John Brunkoski.
Welcome home Sgt. Orace J. Mestas. You gave the ultimate sacrifice for our country. You will never be forgotten.
Sgt. Orace J Mestas' visitation will begin at 10:00 am on Friday, June 20, 2025. Services will be at 1:00 p.m. at the Mullare Murphy Funeral Home on June 20th, 2025 with interment at the Trinidad Catholic Cemetery with full military honors. A military flyover will be at the Trinidad Catholic Cemetery between 2:20 and 2:25 pm.
Son of Frances Mestas Brunkoski, Trinidad, CO. Victor Brunkoski, stepfather.
-------
In Loving Memory of Sgt. Orace Joseph Mestas UPDATE
June 12, 2025
Sgt. Orace Joseph Mestas 1st Company 3rd Battalion 21st infantry Regiment 24th Infantry Division
Sgt. Orace J Mestas was reported missing and killed while serving our country in the Korean War. He was killed on April 25, 1951 north of Seoul, South Korea during an ambush when the enemy overran their position. Thru the efforts of the United States Army his remains were recovered and identified on January 31, 2025.
On February 4, 2025 his family was notified of the positive identification and after 74 years would return to Colorado and would receive a full military burial with honors.
He was born on June 18, 1930 (28) to Felix Mestas and Frances Mestas Brunkoski.
Sgt. Orace J. Mestas is survived by Sister Darlene Garcia and numerous Nephews and Nieces. He is proceeded in death by his parents and stepfather Victor Brunkoski, his siblings Mary Breedlove, Grace Silva, Gertrude Vallejos, Sadie Abeyta, Vivian Martinez, Richard Mestas and Victor John Brunkoski.
Welcome home Sgt. Orace J. Mestas. You gave the ultimate sacrifice for our country. You will never be forgotten.
Sgt. Orace J Mestas' visitation will begin at 10:00 am on Friday, June 20, 2025. Services will be at 1:00 p.m. at the Mullare Murphy Funeral Home on June 20th, 2025 with interment at the Trinidad Catholic Cemetery with full military honors. A military flyover will be at the Trinidad Catholic Cemetery between 2:20 and 2:25 pm.
You can watch the service live at https://www.youtube.com/@TrinidadTimesTV71.
Thomas Murphy
Mullare-Murphy Funeral Home
335 East Main Street, Trinidad, Colorado
---------------
DEFENSE POW/MIA ACCOUNTING AGENCY
Personnel Profile:
Service Member
Sergeant ORACE JOSEPH MESTAS
On January 31, 2025, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) identified the remains of Sergeant Orace Joseph Mestas, missing from the Korean War.
Sergeant Mestas entered the U.S. Army from Colorado and was a member of I Company, 3rd Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He went missing north of Seoul, South Korea, as his unit supported defensive rearguard tank engagements during a withdrawal on April 25, 1951, though the circumstances surrounding his loss are unknown. Following the ceasefire, a surviving member of this combat reported that Sergeant Mestas was killed during a an ambush when the enemy overran their position on April 25. At the time, the overwhelming enemy fire forced the survivors to withdraw before they could recover their fallen comrades. The U.S. Army determined him to be nonrecoverable on January 16, 1956. In April 1951, members from the 565th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company had recovered one set of remains in the vicinity of the defensive position which the 3rd Battalion occupied at the time Sergeant Mestas went missing. However, those remains could not be identified at the time and were subsequently buried as an Unknown in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. In July 2018, the DPAA proposed a plan to disinter 652 Korean War Unknowns from the NMCP. In March 2019, as part of Phase One of the Korean War Disinterment Project, this set of unidentified remains were sent to the DPAA laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, for analysis. The laboratory analysis and the totality of the circumstantial evidence available established the remains as those of Sergeant Mestas.
Sergeant Mestas is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. His name is also inscribed on the Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC, which was updated in 2022 to include the names of the fallen.
**********************
PUBLIC NEWS RELEASE, 6/19/2025:
Sgt. Orace Joseph Mestas 1st Company 3rd Battalion 21st infantry Regiment 24th Infantry Division
Sgt. Orace J Mestas was reported missing and killed while serving our country in the Korean War. He was killed on April 25, 1951 north of Seoul, South Korea during an ambush when the enemy overran their position. Thru the efforts of the United States Army his remains were recovered and identified on January 31, 2025.
On February 4, 2025 his family was notified of the positive identification and after 74 years would return to Colorado and would receive a full military burial with honors.
He was born on June 18, 1930 (28) to Felix Mestas and Frances Mestas Brunkoski.
Sgt. Orace J. Mestas is survived by a sister and numerous nephews and nieces. He is proceeded in death by his parents and stepfather Victor Brunkoski, his siblings Mary Breedlove, Grace Silva, Gertrude Vallejos, Sadie Abeyta, Vivian Martinez, Richard Mestas and Victor John Brunkoski.
Welcome home Sgt. Orace J. Mestas. You gave the ultimate sacrifice for our country. You will never be forgotten.
Sgt. Orace J Mestas' visitation will begin at 10:00 am on Friday, June 20, 2025. Services will be at 1:00 p.m. at the Mullare Murphy Funeral Home on June 20th, 2025 with interment at the Trinidad Catholic Cemetery with full military honors. A military flyover will be at the Trinidad Catholic Cemetery between 2:20 and 2:25 pm.
Family Members
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