Joseph grew up in San Francisco’s Mission District before being drafted by the U.S. Army in World War II. During that war he fought in the Philippines and New Guinea. After returning home and struggling to find a job, on 23 August 1946, he rejoined the Army as a Corporal. In a letter to a sister from Japan, he said he wanted to earn a pension so he didn’t have to worry about food and where to sleep. He was stationed in Japan when the Korean War broke out and was sent to Korea.

In Korea, Steinberg, now a Sergeant First Class, was a member of Battery C, 15th Field Artillery Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division. On 13 February 1951, elements of the 2nd Infantry Division were supporting South Korean forces when Chinese soldiers launched a counterattack, killing and wounding thousands. His Battalion was hit particularly hard, suffering over 200 casualties, in what came to be called the Hoengsong Massacre. That day, he was one of more than 100 men taken as Prisoner of War and marched to Suan Bean Camp in North Korea, where he died of malnutrition on 30 April 1951.

His remains were not recovered during the Korean War and his name is inscribed on the Courts of the Missing at the Honolulu Memorial.

However, in the early 1990s Steinberg’s remains were among those of hundreds of U.S. service members that were turned over to the U.S. by North Korea. In 2006, the Defense Department asked relatives, including Steinberg’s, to provide blood samples to help identify the bodies. Steinberg’s family members were told earlier this year that mitochondrial DNA testing and dental records had led to a match. Steinberg was officially accounted for on 30 May 2013 and his remains were returned to his family in the San Francisco Bay Area, on 30 July 2013.

Burial

On 1 August 2013, the cremains of Sergeant First Class Joseph D. Steinberg were buried in the same plot as his brother, Charles Francis Steinberg, at Golden Gate National Cemetery in San Bruno, CA. He is also near two other brothers, Jack Williard Steinberg, and William Theodore Riley. All three of his brothers were World War II veterans.

http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=114322768

Medals and Awards

Bronze Star Medal with Combat Valor Device
Purple Heart
Prisoner of War Medal
Good Conduct Medal
American Defense Service Medal
Asia-Pacific Medal
World War II Victory Medal
National Defense Medal
Korean Service Medal
United Nations Service Medal
Republic of Korea War Service Medal
Korean Presidential Unit Citation