News-Info-Alerts

To: ALL

From: Andi Wolos & Bob Necci

(POW-MIA InterNetwork)

Re: Remains of US Servicemen Recovered in N. Korea

Date: August 23, 2000

Remains of US Servicemen Recovered in N. Korea

N E W S R E L E A S E

OFFICE OF THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF DEFENSE
(PUBLIC AFFAIRS)
WASHINGTON, DC 20301

PLEASE NOTE DATE

No. 510-00 IMMEDIATE RELEASE Aug. 17, 2000

REMAINS OF US SERVICEMEN RECOVERED IN NORTH KOREA

Remains believed to be those of 14 American servicemen, missing in action from the Korean War, will be repatriated Saturday, Aug. 19, Korea time.

The remains will be flown on a US Air Force aircraft from Pyongyang, North Korea, to Yokota Air Base, Japan, under escort of a uniformed US honor guard.

A United Nations Command repatriation ceremony will be held at Yokota. The following week the remains will be flown to Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii. Following a US Pacific Command ceremony there, the remains will be transferred to the US Army Central Identification Laboratory (CILHI) for forensic examination and positive identification.

A joint U.S.-North Korean investigation team recovered the remains, the largest number recovered during a single operation to date. The 20-person US team is composed primarily of specialists from CILHI.

This recovery operation is the 14th in North Korea since 1996. Three more are scheduled for this year, with the fifth operation scheduled to conclude on Veterans Day, Nov. 11, 2000. Joint US - North Korean teams have recovered 26 sets of remains so far this year, surpassing the total in any single, full year of operations.

Of the 88,000 US servicemembers missing in action from all conflicts, more than 8,100 are from the Korean War.