Press Release | April 22, 2025

Soldier Accounted For From Korean War (Curley, G.)

WASHINGTON  –  

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency announced today that U.S. Army Pfc. George Armand Curley Jr., 18, of Laconia, New Hampshire, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for March 3, 2025.

Curley’s family recently received their full briefing on his identification, therefore, additional details on his identification can be shared.

In December 1950, Curley was assigned to Headquarters and Service Company, 2nd Engineer Combat Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division. Curley was reported missing in action on Nov. 30, 1950, in the vicinity of Sonchu, Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DPRK). Based on information from returning POWs, it was determined that Curley died in captivity at Camp 5 near Pyoktong, DPRK in March 1951.

September and October 1954 during Operation GLORY, the United Nations Command and the Chinese Communist Forces exchanged the remains of fallen service personnel. After those remains were processed by the Central Identification Unit (CIU) Laboratory at Kokura, Japan, the CIU was unable to positively associate any loss with Curley. In 1956, all unidentified remains, including one designated as Unknown X-14692, were transferred to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific (the Punchbowl) in Honolulu, Hawaii and interred there as Unknowns.

In July 2018, the DPAA proposed a plan to disinter 652 Korean War Unknowns from the Punchbowl. On Nov. 18, 2019, DPAA personnel disinterred Unknown X-14692 as part of Phase Two of the Korean War Disinterment Plan and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory for analysis.

To identify Curley, DPAA scientists used dental and anthropological analysis, as well as a chest radiograph. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA and mitochondrial genome sequence analysis.

Curley’s 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.

Curley will be buried in Laconia, New Hampshire in June 2025.