Aug. 30, 2013 SOLDIER MISSING FROM KOREAN WAR IDENTIFIED The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing from the Korean War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors. Army Sgt. Charles L. Scott, 20, of Lynchburg, Va., will be buried Sept. 5, in his hometown. In late November 1950 Scott and elements of the 31st Regimental Combat Team (RCT) were deployed along the east side of the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea when they came under attack by Communist forces. The 31st RCT began a fighting withdrawal to a more defensible position near Hagaru-ri, south of the reservoir. Following the battle, Scott was reported missing in action on Dec. 2, 1950. In 1954 the United Nations and Communist Forces exchanged the remains of war dead in what came to be known as Operation Glory. Remains that were thought to be American were transferred to the Army’s Central Identification Unit in Japan for analysis. Remains that were unidentifiable were interred at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as “the Punchbowl.” In 2012, scientists from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) reassessed the possibility of identifying the remains using modern technology and the decision was made to exhume the remains for identification. In the identification of Scott, scientists from JPAC and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory (AFDIL) used circumstantial evidence, and forensic identification tools such as dental comparisons, radiograph comparisons and mitochondrial DNA – which matched Scott’s mother and sister. Using modern technology, identifications continue to be made from remains that were previously turned over by North Korean officials. More than 7,900 American service members are unaccounted-for from the Korean War. For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO web site at dtic.mil/dpmo or call (703) 699-1169. -end
Posted on: Fri, 06 Sep 2013 02:55:08 +0000
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