Cpl. Earl Emerson Kibbey, age 18, of the Blanchester area, reported as missing in action on December 3, 1950 in the vicinity of Chosin Reservoir, North Korea during the Korean War. This local boy has been now identified and is finally coming back home after 75 years as missing in action. He was born October 4, 1932 in Blanchester, Ohio, son of the late Ephraim Earl & Helen Olivia (Spinks) Kibbey.

Cpl. Kibbey served in the US Army, Company I, 3rd Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was awarded the Purple Heart, Army Good Conduct Medal, National Defense Service Medal, Korean Service Medal with one Bronze Star, Presidential Unit Citation, Combat Infantry Badge, United Nations Service Medal, Republic of Korea-Korean War Service Medal and the Republic of Korea-Presidential Unit Citation.

On Aug. 4, 2025, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency identified the remains of U.S. Army Cpl. Earl Emerson Kibbey, missing from the Korean War.

Kibbey entered the Army from Ohio and served in I Company, 3rd Battalion, 31st Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. On the night of Dec. 3, 1950, his unit defended a sector of the Hagaru-ri perimeter at the base of East Hill during the Battle of Chosin Reservoir in North Korea. Overwhelmed by Chinese Communist Forces, many men of the regiment were killed, captured, or went missing in the fighting withdrawal. Kibbey was reported missing in action that day and was never reported as a prisoner of war. In 1954, the opposing nations reached an agreement to exchange war dead known as Operation Glory. Those remains that could not be identified with the tools available at the time were interred as unknowns at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific. On May 16, 2022, DPAA personnel exhumed one set of remains, reportedly recovered near the Chosin Reservoir for further study. The laboratory analysis and the totality of the circumstantial evidence available established that the remains were those of Kibbey.

He 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, D.C., which was updated in 2022 to include the names of the fallen.