U.S. Army Corporal Marvin Silvester Patton, 20, will be laid to rest at the Southwest Virginia Veterans Cemetery in Dublin at 2pm on March 9, 2026. Patton was killed in action during the Korean War. His remains were accounted for by the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) on August 1, 2025.
In the summer of 1950, Patton was a member of Company B, 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on July 5, in the vicinity of Osan, South Korea, where his unit was deployed to assist in halting the advance of the North Korean Army into South Korea. The U.S. Army issued a presumptive finding of death for Patton on January 16, 1956.
Marvin Patton is the son of the late Dillard Whitten Patton and Edna Mae Davis Patton. He was born in Tazewell, Virginia and attended Cedar Bluff Elementary School and Cottage Hill High School. After graduating, he joined the United States Army on January 4, 1949. He served with B Company, 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He received the Purple Heart, Combat Infantryman Badge, Korean Service Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Republic of Korea Presidential Citation, Republic of Korea War Service Medal, United Nations Service Medal, Army Presidential Unit Citation, Army Good Conduct Medal and Marksmanship Badge.
Corporal Patton is memorialized on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific and at the Honolulu Memorial. His name is also inscribed on the Korean War Veterans Memorial Wall in Washington, DC and in the Virginia War Memorial Shrine of Memory: 20th Century - Korea section under Tazewell.
Dillard Whitten and Edna Mae Davis Patton had three sons who were called to duty to serve in the Korean War. In addition to Marvin, Marvin’s brother Private First-Class Johnny Lee Patton lost his life in 1950 after being taken as a Prisoner of War. The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency website notes that Johnny Lee Patton’s remains have not yet been accounted for. Johnny Lee Patton’s name is also listed on the Virginia War Memorial Shrine of Memory: 20th Century - Korea section under Tazewell. A third brother, Carl Roger Patton, was also serving in the U.S. Army in Korea during the Korean War and was given orders to return home upon the profound loss the Patton family experienced with the loss of their sons Marvin and Johnny.
Marvin is survived by his sisters, Mary Martha Patton Remines of Rural Retreat, VA and Edith Pearl Patton Kinder of Bluefield, VA, sisters-in-law, Ola Mae Patton of Rural Retreat, VA and Wanda “Gaye” Patton of Lynchburg, VA, several nieces and nephews, great nieces and nephews, great-great nieces and nephews and great-great-great nieces and nephews also survive.
Members of the public are encouraged to attend the interment at the Southwest Virginia Veterans Cemetery, 5550 Bagging Plant Road, Dublin, VA 24084 to honor his service and sacrifice.
“We are so honored to be welcoming home this Korean War Hero, and so grateful for the extraordinary sacrifice of the Patton family” said John Maxwell, Commissioner of the Virginia Department of Veterans Services. “Bringing Corporal Patton back to Virginia 75 years after his death demonstrates our nation’s commitment to never leaving a service person behind.”
In addition to this special interment service, a ceremony will be held on Friday, September 18, 2026, at the Virginia War Memorial in Richmond to honor service members from Virginia who were previously classified as a Prisoner of War (POW) or Missing in Action (MIA). The Virginia War Memorial holds the annual ceremony on National POW/MIA Recognition Day, the third Friday in September.
The Virginia War Memorial houses the Commonwealth of Virginia’s Missing in Action Wall, which lists the names of Virginians who are MIA from World War II to the present. When a service member is accounted for, a gold star is placed beside their name identifying them as found.
For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving their country, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil.
About The Virginia Department of Veterans Services
The Virginia Department of Veterans Services (DVS) is a state government agency with more than 50 locations across the Commonwealth of Virginia. DVS traces its history to 1928 and the establishment of the Virginia War Service Bureau to assist Virginia’s World War I veterans. Today, DVS assists veterans and their families in filing claims for federal veterans benefits; provides veterans and family members with linkages to services including behavioral healthcare, housing, employment, education, and other programs. The agency operates four long-term care facilities offering in-patient skilled nursing care, memory care, and short-term rehabilitation for veterans; provides an honored final resting place for veterans and their families at three state veterans cemeteries; and operates the Virginia War Memorial, the Commonwealth’s tribute to Virginia’s men and women who gave the ultimate sacrifice from World War II to the present. For more information, please visit www.dvs.virginia.gov.
About Virginia’s State Veterans Cemeteries
The Virginia Department of Veterans Services (DVS) operates state veterans cemeteries in Amelia, Dublin, and Suffolk, which provide a final resting place for Veterans, National Guard Members, Reservists, Military Service members who died while serving on active duty, and their eligible family members. The Virginia Veterans Cemetery is in Amelia, the Southwest Virginia Veterans Cemetery in Dublin, and the Albert G. Horton, Jr. Memorial Veterans Cemetery in Suffolk. All cemeteries accommodate in-ground burial of casketed remains, in-ground inurnment of cremated remains, and above-ground inurnment of cremated remains in a columbarium niche. For more information, please visit https://www.dvs.virginia.gov/veteran-cemeteries/.