PFC Humberto Acosta-Rosario was a member of Company B, 1st Battalion, 5th Infantry ; 25th Infantry Division, United States Army who is currently the only Puerto Rican MIA whose body has never been recovered.
Early years
Acosta-Rosairo was born and raised in the city of Mayagüez, Puerto Rico, which is located in the western coast of Puerto Rico. He joined the Army after graduating from high school.
On August 22, 1968, Acosta-Rosario accompanied some members of his unit during a reconnaissance mission. His unit was attacked by North Vietnamese Army regulars in the vicinity of Bến CủiRubber Plantation, east of Tay Ninh City, Tay Ninh Province. His unit, Company B, was forced to withdraw from the battlefield under heavy enemy attack. The unit regrouped and discovered that PFC Acosta-Rosario and another machine gunner, PFC Philip T. DeLorenzo, Jr., were missing. Acosta-Rosario's platoon sergeant stated that he believed PFC Acosta-Rosario had been hit by enemy fire prior to the unit's withdrawal. The NVA forces were driven back after artillery fire and helicopter gunships were called in and Company B returned to its original position. An extensive ground search was conducted by members of Company B for the two missing soldiers. The only body recovered was that of PFC DeLorenzo's, along with the two M60 machine guns. A search by two battalions who were brought in to sweep the area of only enemy activity did not produce Acosta-Rosario's body and he was officially listed as Missing in Action. Friendly forces captured documents from the NVA 7th Infantry Division dated August 23, 1968. The documents were analyzed by U.S. intelligence agencies. The reports documented that Humberto Acosta-Rosario was in fact captured by NVA forces during the battle near the Ben Cui Rubber Plantation. However, the U.S. military chose not to upgrade his status to Prisoner of War. Acosta-Rosario's name was listed in the United States Government's "Last Known Alive" list. This list, which was released by the U.S. Government in April 1991, includes missing Americans whom the U.S. believed might have survived their initial loss incident. In March 1978, Acosta-Rosario was declared dead/body not recovered based on a presumptive finding of death.
