Press Release | March 20, 2018

Funeral Announcement For Soldier Missing From The Korean War (Worden, D.)

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, recently accounted-for from the Korean War, are being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

Army Cpl. Dow F. Worden, 20, of Boardman, Oregon, accounted for on July 24, 2017, will be buried March 27 in Arlington National Cemetery, near Washington, D.C. In late September 1951, Worden was a member of Company A, 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, which was in the vicinity of Hill 1024 in South Korea, conducting operations near an area known as Heartbreak Ridge. In the early morning hours, the Chinese launched a probing attack against Worden’s company, on the forward slope of Hill 1024. The company repelled the attacks and was relieved by the Republic of Korea Army elements and ordered to move east and attack the enemy on nearby Hill 867. American forces withdrew from the offensive after a large barrage of enemy mortar fire. After the battle, Worden could not be accounted for and was declared missing in action on Sept. 28, 1951.

Worden’s name did not appear on any prisoner of war lists and no returning American prisoners reported Worden as a prisoner of war. Due to the prolonged lack of evidence, the U.S. Army declared him deceased on Dec. 31, 1953.

In February and May 2016, South Korea turned over remains believed to be unaccounted-for U.S. servicemen from the Korean War. The remains were recovered from an area associated with the Heartbreak Ridge battles, and were sent to the laboratory for analysis

To identify Worden’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used Y-chromosome (Y-STR) DNA analysis, which matched his family, as well as dental and anthropological analysis, which matched his records, and circumstantial evidence.

DPAA is grateful to the South Korean government for their assistance in this recovery.

Today, 7,709 Americans remain unaccounted for from the Korean War. Using modern technology, identifications continue to be made from remains that were previously returned by North Korean officials or recovered from North Korea by American recovery teams. Worden’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, along with the others who are missing from the Korean War. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving our country, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil, find us on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa or call (703) 699-1420.

Press Release | March 16, 2018

Funeral Announcement For Soldier Killed During World War II (Johnson, R.)

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, unaccounted for since World War II, have been identified and are being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

Army Pvt. Rudolph Johnson, 20, of Malvern, Arkansas, will be buried March 23 in Little Rock, Arkansas. In February 1945, Johnson was a member of Company K, 3rd Battalion, 365th Infantry Regiment, 92nd Infantry Division. In an era of racial segregation, the 92nd ID was the only African-American division to fight in Europe. The unit fought on the western most portion of the Gothic Line in northern Italy. Its zone of operations consisted of two contiguous sectors; one sector along the Ligurian Sea coastline and the other in the Serchio River Valley. As part of Operation Fourth Term, Johnson’s regiment fought for days to secure positions along the Lama di Sotto ridge against strong German counterattacks. Johnson was reported missing in action as of Feb. 6, 1945. The War Department changed his status to killed in action on Feb. 21. 1945.

On May 9, 1947, American Graves Registration Service personnel recovered a set of remains designated as “Unknown X-298” in the vicinity of Lama di Sotto, Italy. They recovered a second set of remains in the same investigation and identified them as another member of Johnson’s regiment. Unknown X-298 could not be identified and was buried at the United States Military Cemetery at Castelfiorentino, Italy on May 14, 1947.

On Sept. 17, 1948, the American Graves Registration Services personnel disinterred Unknown X-298 and tried unsuccessfully to make an identification. The remains were reinterred in the USMC Florence American Cemetery on Dec. 16, 1949.

Researchers at DPAA conducted a thorough historical and scientific analysis, and determined that X-298 could likely be identified. After receiving approval, on June 13, 2016, X-298 was disinterred and sent to DPAA for analysis.

To identify Johnson’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial (mtDNA) DNA analysis, which matched his family, as well as dental and anthropological analysis, which matched his records, and historical evidence.

DPAA is grateful to the Department of Veterans Affairs for their partnership in this mission.

Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, more than 400,000 died during the war. Currently there are 72,948 service members (approximately 26,000 are assessed as possibly-recoverable) still unaccounted for from World War II. Johnson’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at the Florence American Cemetery, in Italy, an American Battle Monuments Commission site, along with the other MIAs from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving our country, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil, find us on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa or call (703) 699-1420.

Press Release | March 9, 2018

Funeral Announcement For Soldier Captured In The Korean War (Harkness, H.)

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, recently accounted-for from the Korean War, are being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

Army Sgt. 1st Class Harry E. Harkness, 22, of Lansing, Michigan, will be buried March 17 in his hometown. On In November 1950, Harkness was a member of Company L, 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, participating in combat actions against the Chinese People’s Volunteer Forces (CPVF) in the vicinity of Unsan, North Korea. Harkness was reported missing in action as of Nov. 2, 1950 when he could not be accounted for by his unit.

Following the war, during an operation known as “Operation Big Switch,” when prisoners of war were returned, returning Americans from Pyoktong Camp 5 reported that Harkness had been captured and died while at POW Camp 5 sometime between January and April 1951.

On Dec. 21, 1993, North Korea unilaterally turned over 34 boxes containing remains reportedly to be unaccounted-for U.S. servicemen from the Korean War. One set of remains came from Tongju-ri, Pyokdong County, North Pyongan Province, North Korea, which corresponds to the known location of POW Camp 5, where Harkness was believed to have died.

To identify Harkness’ remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial (mtDNA) and autosomal (auSTR) DNA analysis, which matched his family, as well as anthropological analysis which matched his records; and circumstantial evidence.

Today, 7,709 Americans remain unaccounted for from the Korean War. Using modern technology, identifications continue to be made from remains that were previously returned by North Korean officials or recovered from North Korea by American recovery teams. Harkness’ name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, along with the other MIAs from the Korean War. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving our country, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil, find us on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa or call (703) 699-1420.

Press Release | Feb. 28, 2018

Funeral Announcement For Soldier Captured During Korean War (Bryant, L.)

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, recently accounted-for from the Korean War, are being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

Army Pfc. Leroy W. Bryant, 22, of Autreyville, Georgia, will be buried March 9, in Columbus, Ohio. In early February 1951, Bryant was a member of Company C, 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, as U.S. Republic of Korea Army (ROKA) and United Nations Command (UNC) forces were deployed in defensive positions across the South Korean peninsula. On February 6, Bryant’s regiment was located in the town of Yonghyon-ni, and was tasked to determine location, position and strength of enemy forces. Enemy forces attacked, forcing them to withdraw to new positions. Because Bryant could not be accounted for by his unit after the attack, he was reported missing action as of Feb. 6, 1951, near Yanghyon-ni, South Korea.

Throughout the war, the Chinese People’s Volunteer Forces (CPVF) and Korean People’s Army (KPA) provided lists of American servicemen held in their custody. Bryant’s name appeared on a list of Americans who died while in custody of communist forces, informally known as the “Christmas List.” However, there was no way to confirm this report and Bryant’s status remained listed as missing in action.

Following the war, a returning prisoner from Bryant’s regiment reported that friends told him Bryant died while being marched north to prisoner of war Camp 1, located along the Yalu River, near the village of Changsong. Based on this information, the U.S. Army amended his status to deceased.

From August to November 1954, the United Nations, Chinese Communist Forces (CCF) and North Korea exchanged war dead at Munsan-ni, South Korea. On Sept. 7, 1954, a set of remains reportedly recovered from a prisoner of war cemetery at Camp 1 and 3, Changsong, North Korea, were sent to the Central Identification Unit in Kokura, Japan, for attempted identification. The set of remains was designated “X-14155” and was transferred to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu and interred as a Korean War Unknown.

After a thorough historical and scientific analysis, it was determined that X-14155 could likely be identified. After receiving approval, X-14155 was disinterred on Jan. 9, 2017, and sent to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.

To identify Bryant’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial (mtDNA) DNA analysis, which matched his family, as well as dental, anthropological and chest radiograph comparison analysis, which matched his records, and circumstantial evidence.

DPAA is grateful to the Department of Veterans Affairs for their partnership in this mission.

Today, 7,709 Americans remain unaccounted for from the Korean War. Using modern technology, identifications continue to be made from remains that were previously returned by North Korean officials or recovered from North Korea by American recovery teams. Bryant’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl in Honolulu, along with the others who are missing from WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving our country, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil, find us on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa or call (703) 699-1420.

Press Release | Feb. 23, 2018

Funeral Announcement For Marine Killed During World War II (Harrison, A.)

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, recently accounted-for from World War II, are being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

Marine Corps Reserve Pfc. Arnold J. Harrison, 19, of Detroit, Michigan, will be buried March 2, in Dallas, Texas. In November 1943, Harrison was assigned to Company B, 1st Battalion, 2nd Marine Regiment, 2nd Marine Division, which landed against stiff Japanese resistance on the small island of Betio in the Tarawa Atoll of the Gilbert Islands, in an attempt to secure the island. Over several days of intense fighting at Tarawa, approximately 1,000 Marines and Sailors were killed and more than 2,000 were wounded, but the Japanese were virtually annihilated. Harrison died on the first day of the battle, Nov. 20, 1943.

The battle of Tarawa was a huge victory for the U.S. military because the Gilbert Islands provided the U.S. Navy Pacific Fleet a platform from which to launch assaults on the Marshall and Caroline Islands to advance their Central Pacific Campaign against Japan.

In the immediate aftermath of the fighting on Tarawa, U.S. service members who died in the battle were buried in a number of battlefield cemeteries on the island. The 604th Quartermaster Graves Registration Company conducted remains recovery operations on Betio between 1946 and 1947, but Harrison’s remains were not identified. All of the remains found on Tarawa were sent to the Schofield Barracks Central Identification Laboratory for identification in 1947. By 1949, the remains that had not been identified were interred in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.

On Jan. 30, 2017, DPAA disinterred Tarawa Unknown X-166 from the Punchbowl and submitted the remains for analysis.

To identify Harrison’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental, anthropological and chest radiograph comparison analysis, which matched his records, as well as circumstantial evidence.

DPAA is grateful to the Department of Veterans Affairs for their partnership in this mission.

Of the 16 million Americans who served in World War II, more than 400,000 died during the war. Currently there are 72, 948 service members (approximately 34,000 are assessed as possibly-recoverable) still unaccounted for from World War II. Harrison’s name is recorded on the Tablets of the Missing at the NCMP, an American Battle Monuments Commission cemetery, along with the others killed or lost in WWII. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving our country, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil, find us on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa or call (703) 699-1420.