The US Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency aims to provide the fullest possible accounting for US missing military servicemen to their families and the nation.
The Agency works to identify the remains of personnel reported as missing in action and below you can find details of some of their recent discoveries. As of the end of April 2023, the US Defense Accounting agency successfully identified another 11 US soldiers.
Medal of Honor Soldier Accounted For From Korea (Story, L.)
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced that Army Cpl. Luther H. Story, 19, of Americus, Georgia, killed during the Korean War, and posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor, was accounted for April 6, 2023.
In late 1950, Story was a member of Alpha Company, 1st Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. On Sept. 1, 1950, Story was reported killed in action after his unit was engaged by the Korean People’s Army near Naktong River, South Korea. There is no indication his remains were recovered after the battle, and he was never recorded as a prisoner of war. The Army issued a presumptive finding of death on Sept. 1, 1953, and his remains were determined to be nonrecoverable in January 1956.
In October 1950, 11 sets of remains were recovered near Sangde-po, South Korea, eight were identified. One set remains designated X-260 Tanggok thought to be Story, but investigators at the Central Identification Unit-Kokura in Japan didn’t have enough identifying data to positively ID the remains. X-260 was later transported with all of the unidentified Korean War remains and buried as an Unknown at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, also known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu, Hawaii.
In July 2018, the DPAA proposed a plan to disinter 652 Korean War Unknowns from the Punchbowl. In June 2021, the DPAA disinterred X-260 as part of Phase Three of the Korean War Disinterment Plan and sent the remains to the DPAA laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, for analysis.
To identify Story’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and anthropological analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
Pilot Accounted For From World War II (Thomas, J.)
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced that U.S. Army Air Forces 1st Lt. John B. Thomas, 23, of Rochester, New York, killed during World War II, was accounted for Sept. 30, 2022.
In the summer of 1943, Thomas was assigned to the 345th Bombardment Squadron (Heavy), 98th Bombardment Group (Heavy), 9th Air Force. On Aug. 1, the B-24 Liberator bomber Thomas was piloting was hit by enemy anti-aircraft fire and crashed during Operation TIDAL WAVE, the largest bombing mission against the oil fields and refineries at Ploiesti, north of Bucharest, Romania. His remains were not identified following the war. The remains that could not be identified were buried as Unknowns in the Hero Section of the Civilian and Military Cemetery of Bolovan, Ploiesti, Prahova, Romania.
Following the war, the American Graves Registration Command (AGRC), the organization that searched for and recovered fallen American personnel, disinterred all American remains from the Bolovan Cemetery for identification. The AGRC was unable to identify more than 80 unknowns from Bolovan Cemetery, and those remains were permanently interred at Ardennes American Cemetery and Henri-Chapelle American Cemetery, both in Belgium.
In 2017, DPAA began exhuming unknowns believed to be associated with unaccounted-for airmen from Operation TIDAL WAVE losses. These remains were sent to the DPAA Laboratory at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, for examination and identification.
To identify Thomas’ remains, scientists from DPAA used dental and 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.
Soldier Accounted For From Korean War (Crotty, R.)
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced that Army Sgt. Richard E. Crotty, 22, of Geneva, Illinois, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for Feb. 3, 2023.
In late 1950, Crotty was a member of Easy Company, 2nd Battalion, 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division. On 1 September 1950, Crotty’s was reported missing in action after his unit was engaged by the Korean People’s Army near Yongsan, South Korea. There is no indication his remains were recovered after the battle, and he was never recorded as a prisoner of war. The Army issued a presumptive finding of death on Dec. 31, 1953, and his remains were determined to be nonrecoverable in January 1956.
A set of remains was recovered near Yongsan, in July 1951. The remains were thought to be Crotty and were designated X-1667 Tanggok and buried in the United Nations Cemetery Tanggok later that month. In March 1955, the Central Identification Unit Kokura in Japan began a reexamination of X-1667. They made several attempts between then and April 1955 before ultimately declaring the remains unidentifiable. X-1667 was later transported with all of the unidentified Korean War remains and buried as an Unknown at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, also known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu, Hawaii.
In April 2017, Crotty’s next of kin contacted the Army and requested the disinterment of X-1667 Tanggok as a potential association with Crotty. The remains were disinterred on Sept. 8, 2018, and transferred to the DPAA Laboratory at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii for analysis.
To identify Crotty’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental, anthropological, and isotope analysis. Additionally, scientists from the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis.
Image Source:
- Medal of Honor Soldier Accounted For From Korea (Story, L.): dpaa
- Pilot Accounted For From World War II (Thomas, J.): dpaa
- Soldier Accounted For From Korean War (Crotty, R.): dpaa
- Identified soldiers April 2023: DPAA
