Corporal Van Dewerker was a member of the Heavy Mortar Company, 34th Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was taken Prisoner of War while fighting the enemy Taejon, South Korea on 20 July 1950, forced to march to North Korea on the "Tiger Death March", and killed by his guards during the march from Manpo to Chunggang-jin, North Korea on 6 November 1950. His remains were not recovered. His name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

Van Dewerker was awarded the Purple Heart with Oak Leaf Cluster, the Combat Infantryman's Badge, the Prisoner of War Medal, the Korean Service Medal, the United Nations Service Medal, the National Defense Service Medal, the Korean Presidential Unit Citation and the Republic of Korea War Service Medal.