Hometown: Seymour, CT 
Branch: U.S. Army
Unit: Headquarters Battery, 57th Field Artillery Battalion, 7th Infantry Division
Military Honors: Purple Heart
Date of Sacrifice: November 30, 1950 - KIA near Chosin Reservoir, Korea
Age: 18
Conflict: Korean War 1950-1953

Corporal Benjamin “Benny” Bazzell was just 18 years old when he fought in one of the early major battles of the Korean War.

The Battle of Chosin Reservoir, in North Korea, took place from November 27 to December 13, 1950. Referred to as “frozen Chosin” because of the brutal cold, this intense battle led to the withdrawal of all United Nations (U.N.) forces from North Korea.

According to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency: “The Chosin Reservoir is a man-made lake located in the northeast of the Korean peninsula. It was the site of one of the most brutal battles between U.N. and Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) during the Korean War. For approximately seventeen days, roughly 30,000 U.N. soldiers and Marines faced an enemy force estimated at around 120,000 over rugged terrain in lethally cold weather. Over a thousand U.S. Marines and soldiers were killed during the Chosin Reservoir Campaign and thousands more were wounded in battle or incapacitated by cold weather.”

Corporal Bazzell’s body could not be recovered after the battle, and he was listed by the Department of Defense as Missing in Action until 2018. Following a summit that year with the United States, Bazzell’s remains were among the 55 turned over by North Korea.

Corporal Bazzell’s sister, Beverly Guliuzza, was just 12 years old when her brother was reported as missing. Notification that her brother had been found came seven decades later. Guliuzza had fond memories of “Benny,” calling him “just a sweet, sweet boy” who would wake her up late at night when he got home from his bowling alley job to tell her he had candy.

Sources
Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA): CPL Benjamin Robert Bazzell
Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA): Battle of Chosin Reservoir
New Haven Register: Remains of Seymour man killed during Korean War identified
Hartford Courant: Remains of young Connecticut soldier killed in Korean War identified
Korean War Project: CPL Benjamin Robert Bazzell
Honor States: Benjamin Robert Bazzell
Burial Site: Find a Grave