BATON ROUGE — The Louisiana Department of Veterans Affairs is working with state partners to protect the Baton Rouge grave of a soldier killed in Korea after the brick burial structure over his grave collapsed.

PFC Samuel Pierre Jr. is buried in Sweet Olive Cemetery, and his casket is exposed to the elements. LDVA learned of the grave's condition and is working to repair the grave to relocate Pierre's remains. 

Pierre was 22 when he died in Korea on July 1, 1952. He was a New Orleans native who grew up in Baton Rouge and attended McKinley High School before graduating from Gaudet High School in New Orleans. He later attended Southern University.

LDVA said they could not find any living immediate family members. His mother's obituary shows that she died in 1970; his father would be well over 100 years old today, and no spouse, children or siblings were named in records from the time, the LDVA said.

The LDVA is working with the Office of the Governor, the Louisiana Cemetery Board and the Louisiana Attorney General's Office on the repair or relocation. 

"No grave should ever look like this, but it is even harder to accept when it is a hero who was killed in action," Secretary Charlton Meginley said. "Our fallen and their Gold Star families have given this country everything, and they deserve better than this. We will not tolerate or accept this for our veterans. We are doing everything in our power to move expeditiously and get this resolved in a way that honors PFC Pierre with the dignity he has earned."

The Louisiana Cemetery Board advised the LDVA that relocating remains would require court approval and must comply with Louisiana cemetery, public health, and historic preservation laws.