Press Release | March 4, 2021

Soldier Accounted For From Korean War (Hart, J.)

WASHINGTON  –   The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Army Master Sgt. James Hart, Jr., 25, of Hopkins, Texas, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for May 28, 2020.

In late 1950, Hart was a member of Company C, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on Dec. 2, 1950, when his unit was attacked by enemy forces near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea. Following the battle, his remains could not be recovered.

On July 27, 2018, following the summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un in June 2018, North Korea turned over 55 boxes, purported to contain the remains of American service members killed during the Korean War. The remains arrived at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii on Aug. 1, 2018, and were subsequently accessioned into the DPAA laboratory for identification.

To identify Hart’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA), Y chromosome DNA (Y-STR), and autosomal DNA (auSTR) analysis.

Hart’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 still missing from the Korean War. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

Hart will be buried June 8, 2021, in Winterfield, Texas.

For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.

To see the most up-to-date statistics on DPAA recovery efforts for those unaccounted for from the Korean War, go to the Korean War fact sheet on the DPAA website at: https://www.dpaa.mil/Resources/Fact-Sheets/Article-View/Article/569610/progress-on-korean-war-personnel-accounting/.

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, or find us on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa or https://www.linkedin.com/company/defense-pow-mia-accounting-agency.

Press Release | March 1, 2021

Soldier Accounted For From Korean War (Milano, D.)

WASHINGTON  –   The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Army Cpl. David B. Milano, 17, of Chicago, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for April 14, 2020.

In late 1950, Milano was a member of Company D, 1st Battalion, 32nd Infantry Regiment, 7th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on Dec. 2, 1950, when his unit was attacked by enemy forces near the Chosin Reservoir, North Korea. Following the battle, his remains could not be recovered.

On July 27, 2018, following the summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un in June 2018, North Korea turned over 55 boxes, purported to contain the remains of American service members killed during the Korean War. The remains arrived at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii on Aug. 1, 2018, and were subsequently accessioned into the DPAA laboratory for identification.

To identify Milano’s remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological analysis, as well as circumstantial evidence. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) and Y-chromosome DNA (Y-STR) analysis.

Milano’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 still missing from the Korean War. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

Milano will be buried in Ogden, Utah, in April 2022.

For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.

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) 699-1420/1169.

Press Release | Feb. 11, 2021

Soldier Accounted For From Korean War (Wilkins, P.)

WASHINGTON  –   The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Army Cpl. Paul W. Wilkins, 19, of Bellwood, Pennsylvania, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for Oct. 30, 2020.

In July 1950, Wilkins was a member of B Company, 1st Battalion, 21st Infantry Regiment, 24th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on July 11 when his unit was fighting enemy forces near Choch’iwan, South Korea. He was never found, nor were any remains recovered that could be identified as Wilkins. The Army declared a presumptive finding of death for Wilkins on Dec. 31, 1953, and he was declared non-recoverable on Jan. 16, 1956.

On Oct. 4, 1950, U.S. forces buried an unidentified set of remains, designated Unknown X-113 Taejon, in United Nations Military Cemetery Taejon. There was no record or information as to the recovery location or identity of these remains. After multiple attempts to identify X-113, the remains were deemed unidentifiable, and were sent to Hawaii where they were buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl.

In July 2018, DPAA historians and anthropologists proposed a plan to disinter and identify the 652 Korean War unknown burials from the Punchbowl, including 53 recovered from the Taejon area. X-113 was disinterred July 1, 2019, as part of the Korean War Identification Project, and transferred to the DPAA Laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii.

To identify Wilkins’ remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as chest radiograph comparison. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.

Wilkins’ name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

Wilkins will be buried in his hometown. The date is yet to be determined.

For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.

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) 699-1420/1193.

Press Release | Feb. 10, 2021

USS Oklahoma Sailor Accounted For From World War II (Clark, D.)

WASHINGTON  –   The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Navy Seaman 2nd Class David Clark, Jr., 18, killed during World War II, was accounted for on Nov. 24, 2020.

On Dec. 7, 1941, Clark was assigned to the battleship USS Oklahoma, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, when the ship was attacked by Japanese aircraft. The USS Oklahoma sustained multiple torpedo hits, which caused it to quickly capsize. The attack on the ship resulted in the deaths of 429 crewmen, including Clark.

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) 699-1420/1193.

Press Release | Jan. 22, 2021

USS Oklahoma Sailor Accounted For From World War II (Griffith, T.)

WASHINGTON  –   The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Navy Radioman 3rd Class Thomas E. Griffith, 20, of Dayton, Ohio, killed during World War II, was accounted for on April 21, 2020.

On Dec. 7, 1941, Griffith was assigned to the battleship USS Oklahoma, which was moored at Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, when the ship was attacked by Japanese aircraft. The USS Oklahoma sustained multiple torpedo hits, which caused it to quickly capsize. The attack on the ship resulted in the deaths of 429 crewmen, including Griffith.

From December 1941 to June 1944, Navy personnel recovered the remains of the deceased crew, which were subsequently interred in the Halawa and Nu’uanu Cemeteries.

In September 1947, tasked with recovering and identifying fallen U.S. personnel in the Pacific Theater, members of the American Graves Registration Service (AGRS) disinterred the remains of U.S. casualties from the two cemeteries and transferred them to the Central Identification Laboratory at Schofield Barracks. The laboratory staff was only able to confirm the identifications of 35 men from the USS Oklahoma at that time. The AGRS subsequently buried the unidentified remains in 46 plots at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (NMCP), known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu. In October 1949, a military board classified those who could not be identified as non-recoverable, including Griffith.

Between June and November 2015, DPAA personnel exhumed the USS Oklahoma Unknowns from the Punchbowl for analysis.

To identify Griffith’s remains, scientists from DPAA anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.

Griffith’s name is recorded on the Walls of the Missing at the Punchbowl, 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.

Griffith will be buried May 22, 2021 at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia.

For family and funeral information, contact the Navy Service Casualty office at (800) 443-9298.

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

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) 699-1420/1169.