Re: Remains Found Near Chosin Reservoir

Date: June 28, 2004

"Remains of GI found near Chosin Reservoir

Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Monday, June 28, 2004

SEOUL — American recovery teams in North Korea have found a set of remains believed to be those of a U.S. soldier missing in action from the Korean War, officials said Saturday.

According to the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command, the remains were found by a joint U.S.-North Korean team operating near the Chosin Reservoir.

The 7th Infantry Division fought a brutal campaign against Chinese forces there in November and December 1950, when an estimated 1,000 Americans lost their lives in battles of the Chosin campaign.

According to the POW/MIA Accounting Command, the remains will be sent across the Demilitarized Zone and repatriated at a ceremony on Thursday at Yongsan Garrison.

In late May, 18 sets of remains were repatriated in a similar service at Yongsan. Those were the first since the Korean War to return to U.S. hands via an overland route through the DMZ.

The remains will then be flown to Hawaii’s Central Identification Laboratory, which will begin the forensic identification process.

Since 1996, 29 joint operations have been conducted in North Korea, during which more than 200 remains believed to be those of U.S. soldiers have been recovered, officials said.

Of the 88,000 U.S. servicemembers missing in action from all conflicts, more than 8,100 are from the Korean War, Pentagon records show.

© 2003 Stars and Stripes. "