News-Info-Alerts

Re: Still Working to Bring Them Home

From: POW-MIA InterNetwork

Date: January 26, 2003

"U.S. still works to bring home troops lost in Korea

Strained diplomatic relations with North Korea could make recovering the remains of U.S. soldiers more difficult.
By SHARON SMITH
Daily Record staff

The Korean War ended nearly 50 years ago, but the remains of 8,100 American soldiers are still believed to be in North Korea. Among the missing are at least 14 men from York County.


During the three years that the war raged, York County sent 6,910 servicemen to Korea, 63 of whom died of wounds or disease. The federal government and the men and women who fought alongside the missing have not given up hope that their remains will be brought back home.

In the last seven years, the U.S. government has sent specialists from the U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii to North Korea in an effort to identify and return the remains of unaccounted-for soldiers.

The group has conducted 25 joint operations in North Korea since 1996. U.S. officials believe the remains of at least 178 troops have been recovered and 13 have been identified.

Specialists have visited Unsan, North Korea, and Chosin Reservoir, where two York County servicemen disappeared.

It’s too soon to tell how the current political differences with North Korea will affect U.S. access and search efforts, said Larry Greer, spokesman with the Department of Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office.

Representatives from North Korea and the United States last met in October to discuss their respective positions on the recovery of remains. The two countries did not discuss a schedule for recovery trips in 2003.

Currently, the U.S. government has no dates for future excavations and no dates set up for talks with the North Korean government.

Teams from the U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory generally conduct their searches in the spring and summer months. Korean War veterans and those dedicated to helping in the identification of their remains are not optimistic that the North Koreans will be willing to negotiate new search dates.

“Those efforts will probably be stalled for a while,” said Robert Casbeer, a Korean War veteran and a Springettsbury Township resident. “They’re going to make use of it. It’s the name of the game.”

Ted Barker, with the Korean War Project, said cooperation with the North Korean government has been troublesome in the past. The current situation isn’t likely to improve matters.

“That’s a real issue,” he said.

On the positive side, the negotiations between the U.S. government and North Korea over servicemen’s remains have been the most constant and reliable form of contact between the two countries over the years, said Jack Rendler, a country coordinator for North Korea with Amnesty International U.S.A.

How the current nuclear dispute might affect those talks, Rendler could not say. The flow of goods from the United States or paid for by the American government might make more of a difference.

“In order to get anything done, North Korea puts a price tag on it,” he said.

Still, progress is being made, Greer said.

“We are getting the job done,” Greer said. “We would like to reach out to a broader area. We want to go to additional places and add people to our team.”



YORK COUNTY SOLDIERS STILL UNACCOUNTED FOR

Did you know a York County serviceman still unaccounted for nearly 50 years after the Korean War? If so, please call York Daily Record staff writer Sharon Smith at 771-2029.


Unaccounted for:



The following is a list of York County servicemen who are still unaccounted for, nearly 50 years after the Korean War:

* Army Private First Class Dale Gerald Barnhart, killed in action, Sept. 7, 1951. Lost in ridgeline fighting along what became the demilitarized zone.

* Army Cpl. Harold E. Beard Jr., prisoner of war, Feb. 12, 1951. Captured during the defense of Hoengsong and Wonju, in which a major offensive east of Seoul was turned back. He probably died at the Suan Bean Camp.

* Army Cpl. Walter W. Copenhaver, missing in action, Nov. 28, 1950. Lost in fighting along the upper east shore of the Chosin Reservoir. He was among those who fought trying to buy time for others at what became known as the Sinhung Perimeter.

* Marine First Lt. Robert Dorman Dern, killed in action, Dec. 21, 1952. Assigned U.S.S. Missouri. Lost at sea flying a helicopter off the east coast of North Korea.

* Army Master Sgt. Grant R. Fetrow, missing in action, Nov. 2, 1950. Lost in action in Unsan, North Korea. It was the first major engagement with Chinese forces.

* Air Force First Lt. George G. Greenwell, missing in action, May 15, 1952. Pilot of an RB-26 bomber on reconnaissance mission near Sunchon, North Korea. Possibly lost to a Russian MiG-15.

* Army Master Sgt. Francis R. Jenkins, missing in Action, Nov. 2, 1950. No further information available.

* Army Cpl. John Philip Kendig, prisoner of war, July 14, 1950. No further information available.

* Army Cpl. John Kyle, missing in action, Nov. 2, 1950. No further information available.

* Army Cpl. Earle Henry Markle, missing in action, Nov. 2, 1950. No further information available.

* Army Cpl. William L. Meckley, killed in action, Nov. 21, 1950. No further information available.

* U.S. Army Sgt. Raymond Shortino, missing in action, Oct. 12, 1951. No further information available.

* U.S. Army Cpl. William L. Smith, prisoner of war, July 12, 1950. No further information available.

* U.S. Army Private Charles C. Wilhelm, killed in action, Nov. 30, 1950. Lost during the massive Battle of the Chongchon River.

SOURCE: Department of Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office

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