| HOW IT WAS!POW/MIA IN KOREA
MIA ISSUESPage 2 of 3 |
MIA TABLE OF CONTENTS:  Main POW/MIA Page -- Forgotten War; Link to Forgotten War Korea; KW Veterans Memorial; Hawaiian chant; Rememberance of a Young Soldier; POW/MIA/Related site links
POW Issues -- POW issues; 23 Non-patriates; News articles; POW camp numbers/locations
MIA Issues
MIA Links
Some of the awards this site has received. To view our awards, go to Awards.
NOTICE/DISCLAIMER: The content of this page is unofficial and the views and opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of me or any of those linked from my site. Information presented is intended for entertainment purposes only. Links to other web pages are provided for convenience and do not, in any way, constitute an endorsement of the linked pages or any commercial or private issues or products presented there. None of this site has been endorsed by the DOD, any branch of the military, or Mickey Mouse.
THE FORGOTTEN WAR:"This was America's first limited war, a war that the United States and the United Nations officially did not try to win. Without achieving a clear battlefield or political victory, soldiers, politicians, news media, and the American public largely felt that they were denied their accustomed victory....The war was far away for most American people. After early successful counter-attacks, the war settled into mountain and hill trench warfare. ... The sense that the human and material costs of fighting in Korea were worth it was essentially missing. America was not accustomed to military and political stalemates." "...American service men and women came home without a sense of victory. Korean war veterans faced unheralded return homes. The Korean War became "The Forgotten War" in the consciousness of the American public." --American Images of Korea, Craig S. Coleman, Ph.D.  Korean War Memorial dedicated in 1995...
after so many years...Link to Korean War Veterans Memorial Website
The Forgotten War: Korea (1950-1953)Died: 54,246
Wounded: 103,284
M.I.A.: 8,177
MIA ISSUES
 | 
Remains repatriated at Panmunjon.(Click on photo to enlarge) |
Attn: US Korean War MIA Family Members - Recent improvements in the relationship between North Korea and the United States have made it possible for the Department of Defense to conduct investigations and recovery operations for U.S. Personnel who are unaccounted for from the Korean War. It has been over forty years since hostilities ceased in Korea and we have lost touch with most of the next of kin of these unaccounted for personnel. We are conducting a massive outreach effort to locate these next of kin. Thomas R. Perry, Chief of the U.S. Air Force Missing Persons Branch (1997) Family members should contact the appropriate service casualty office to provide their name, address and relationship to their loved one. Air Force families can send electronic mail via the Internet at pow-mia@hq.afpc.af.mil or call toll-free (800) 531-5501 . The Army's toll-free number is (800) 892-2490; Navy and Coast Guard families can call (800) 443-9298 and the Marines can be reached at (800) 847-1597. Families of civilians missing from these conflicts may contact the State Department at (202) 647-6769.
Looking for information on your loved one? Call your Service
Casualty Office Army - 1-800-892-2490
Air Force - 1-800-531-5501
Navy - 1-800-443-9298
Marines - 1-800-847-1597
Defense POW/MIA Office -703-362-2102 or 2202
Central Identification Lab (CILHI) - 1-800-448-8903
Coalition of Families of Korean and Cold War POW/MIAs There is a support group for people who are especially interested
in POW/MIA issues. To receive information and POW/MIA News, contact Irene L. Mandra,
Coalition of Families of Korean and Cold War POW/MIAs. Her e-mail address is ilmandra@aol.com
NORTH KOREA AND THE US HAVE REACHED AN AGREEMENT (MAY 97): The following was excerpted from Kyodo News Service:
WASHINGTON, May 15 (Kyodo) - North Korea and the United States have reached
an agreement on resuming a joint search later this year for remains of U.S.
soldiers missing in action (MIA) in the 1950-1953 Korean War, the U.S.
Defense Department announced Thursday. The two nations agreed on a joint statement Tuesday at their working-level
talks in New York, which includes three joint search operations and
investigations into North Korean archives, the department said in announcing
the statement. The first joint recovery operation was conducted last July, but the second
scheduled for the fall last year was suspended following the intrusion last
year into South Korean waters by a North Korean submarine. ''In the talks, the two sides agreed to conduct three joint recovery
operations in 1997, and in principle, to conduct joint archival
investigations this summer,'' the statement said. Although the two nations have yet to set search areas and a concrete
timetable, the statement said both sides agreed to hold working-level
contacts ''as soon as possible in order to implement the agreement.'' A U.S. defense official said Washington agreed to pay 100,000 dollars for
each recovery operation, expecting to resume the search within a month for
more than 8,000 American MIAs. The U.S. team will be allowed to access North Korean military records being
kept at a museum in Pyongyang, the official said, noting the searches will be
conducted at locations where U.S. pilots were shot down and where soldiers
are believed to buried in mass graves. The Pentagon said the U.S. could not get North Korea to agree to a request
for interviews with four U.S. defectors living in North Korea, but both sides
agreed to continue discuss the matter. The agreement represents an breakthrough in the recent impasse between the
two nations in efforts to improve ties, stemming largely from what U.S.
officials consider to be North Korean's lack of response to proposals. Pyongyang and Washington broke off talks once last week in New York over the
MIA recovery operation because North Korea ''was unable to respond
constructively to U.S. proposals,'' the department said. Earlier this month, North Korea postponed for ''technical reasons'' a second
round of missile talks with the U.S., initially set for this week in New
York. North Korea did not respond to a U.S.-South Korea proposal for four party
talks, which would include China, during a meeting in New York. Pyongyang had
earlier indicated that it would state its position on the matter. The four-way talks, proposed in April last year are intended to negotiate a
permanent peace accord in place of the current armistice that ended the
Korean War. The U.S. has cited the MIA, missile, and four-way talks as the mainstay for
further improvement in ties with North Korea, including provision of
large-scale food aid and easing of economic sanctions.
POSSIBLY DOZENS OF MISSING AIRMEN WERE ALIVE IN CHINA OR NORTH KOREA AT END OF KOREAN WAR: (AUG 97)
Date: August 6, 1997
WASHINGTON, Aug 6 (Reuter) - U.S. officials concluded at least five and
possibly dozens of missing airmen were alive in Chinese or North Korean hands
when the Korean War ended in July 1953, according to a newly declassified Air
Force report.
The report, dated Oct. 19, 1955, described a bold but failed attempt to
rescue the five, members of a B-29 bomb crew shot down near Pyongyang on Jan.
29, 1953.
Unanswered questions about the fate of the some 8,100 Americans still listed
as unaccounted for from the war is one of the many issues that the United
States is pursuing with North Korea.
Recently, the Defence Department has begun pressing China for information on
specific U.S. prisoners possibly sent there from North Korean camps but never
heard of again, Pentagon officials said.
Both China and North Korea, allies during the war against U.S.-led United
Nations forces, have said they withheld no U.S. prisoners from the fighting.
The previously secret intelligence report, obtained by Reuters on Wednesday,
listed the cases of 137 Air Force personnel ``who may possibly be alive, or
may have been alive in Communist captivity at one time'' during the war.
It said the five, who did not return when prisoners were exchanged nor have
been otherwise accounted for, ``were known to be alive in Communist hands at
the close of the Korean conflict.''
Names of the five were already part of a Pentagon compilation of 389 missing
servicemen from the war about whose fate U.S. officials say China or North
Korea should have information.
Chinese forces managed North Korean prisoner-of-war camps during much of the
war and in some cases sent U.S. POWs to China for interrogation.
In what appeared to be a gesture of good will, North Korean officials on
Monday handed over remains said to belong to four Americans killed in a 1950
clash with Chinese forces near Unsan, due north of Pyongyang and about 20
miles (32 kilometres) south of China's border.
The declassified report disclosed a May 24, 1953 effort to snatch back the
five-man B-29 crew: First Lieutenants Gilbert Ashley, Arthur Olsen and Harold
Turner, Second Lt. John Shaddick and Airman Second Class Hidemaro Ishida.
The rescue operation, codenamed Green Dragon, followed the sighting by three
other B-29 crews of ``what appeared to be a signal'' made up of flashing
lights, said the report, prepared by the Escape and Evasion Section of the
6004th Air Intelligence Service Squadron.
It said the pilot of the rescue craft somehow made radio contact with Ashley
on the ground and that Ashley helped them zero in on his location.
``The pilot reported that the voice was definitely that of the American who
had previously been identified as Lt. Ashley,'' the report added. It said on
approaching the pick-up site the aircraft was damaged by enemy fire from at
least two directions, forcing the mission to be aborted.
``Rescue officials soon determined the (U.S.) aviators were actually under
the control of Communist troops, who were using them to get supplies and
equipment,'' co-authors James Sanders, Mark Sauter and Cort Kirkwood wrote in
their 1992 book ``Soldiers of Misfortune.''
Ashley, of Rock Hall, Maryland, was 30 at the time of his shootdown. The Air
Force had no comment on the declassified report, which was made available at
the National Archives.
Dolores Alfond, chair of the National Alliance of Families for the Return of
America's Missing Servicemen, said the report illustrated her view that the
Pentagon was wrongly focusing on digging up bones rather than pressing for
any survivors.
``It's not our policy to be looking for living Americans,'' she said in a
telephone interview from her home in Bellevue, Washington. ``The American
policy is to be looking for remains. That's our whole problem.''
FOUR SETS OF REMAINS RECOVERED (AUG 97):
Date: August 8, 1997
By Deborah Zabarenko
WASHINGTON, Aug 8 (Reuter) - Four sets of skeletal remains have been
recovered from the site in North Korea of a fierce 1950 Korean War battle and
are now in U.S. possession, the Defence Department said on Friday.
The remains brought the number recovered from that conflict to just five, out
of more than 8,100 U.S. military personnel unaccounted for, said Alan Liotta,
deputy director of the Defence Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel office.
A U.S. team worked for 20 days in rural North Korea to recover remains as
U.S., North Korean, South Korean and Chinese diplomats in New York held talks
on proposed negotiations for a durable peace agreement to end the 1950-53
Korean conflict formally.
Two more such missions are planned for later this month and October, Liotta
said.
``I believe that much of the success (of the recovery operation) comes from
the fact that we've been very careful to delineate this issue as a
humanitarian issue, separate from any other issue, and one that's really a
soldier-to-soldier issue,'' Liotta said at a briefing.
The teams have been combing an agricultural area in Unsan County, 50 miles
(80 km) southwest of the Yalu River, where U.S. troops clashed with Chinese
communist forces in October and November of 1950, Liotta said.
The four sets of remains just recovered are believed to be from the First
Battalion of the Army's 8th Cavalry. Another man's remains were recovered in
the same area in 1996.
U.S. records indicate that about 350 U.S. soldiers were killed in the area,
and Liotta said he could not speculate about how many sets of remains would
be recovered.
In addition to the battlefield excavation, U.S. officials were permitted to
do research in North Korean military records and war museums for clues about
the missing men.
``My understanding is that the North Koreans have shared a great amount of
information with the team, including unit histories, anti-aircraft shoot-down
logs, some personal war records,'' Liotta said.
He said the North Koreans were ``leery'' of what the United States might do
with the information, adding: ``Their particular concern is that we're going
to use it for some political purpose to criticise them.''
However, Liotta said there were ``significantly reduced tensions'' between
the two countries' teams, compared with a similar mission last year which
began ``basically under gunpoint.''
The North Koreans provided helicopter support for the remote site, let the
U.S. experts communicate by radio with U.S. officials in Pyongyang and agreed
to reposition an antenna so the radios would work better, Liotta said.
A recently de-classified U.S. Air Force report said at least five and
possibly dozens of missing U.S. airmen were alive and in Chinese or North
Korean hands at the end of the war. Asked about the report, Liotta said all
reports would be treated seriously but declined to speculate on whether any
of the men might be alive.
But he noted that six U.S. military personnel were believed to have defected
to North Korea between the 1960s and 1980s, and said four of these were
thought to be alive and working as advisers to Pyongyang's military.
Asked whether North Korea's famine had had any visible impact, Liotta said
team members found conditions deteriorated as they got farther from
Pyongyang.
About 37,000 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea to help defend the
country. The demilitarized zone that divides North and South is one of the
last vestiges of the Cold War.
In New York, the four-nation talks on proposed peace negotiations stalled
over North Korean demands that the U.S. withdraw its troops from the South
and sign a separate treaty with Pyongyang, officials said on Thursday.
THIRD JOINT SEARCH BEGINS (AUG 97):
Date: August 11, 1997
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) - U.S. analysts this month begin a third joint search in a
North Korean battlefield where as many as 350 Americans were lost during the
Korean conflict, a Pentagon official said Friday.
``We're hopeful that these recovery efforts will lead to the recovery of many
of those remains,'' said Alan Liotta, deputy director of the Defense
Department's office for prisoners of war and soldiers missing in action.
Liotta, meeting with reporters at the Pentagon, said a 20-day operation is
set to begin Aug. 19, with a fourth scheduled in October.
Earlier this week, North Korean soldiers handed over four sets of remains
that are believed to be those of American soldiers, recovered nearly a
half-century after the Korean War.
The remains, including some identification that was exhumed with them, were
flown to Hawaii for forensic tests and identification. They were the latest
to be repatriated from North Korea since the United States was given access
to the reclusive communist country 1 1/2 years ago to look for evidence of
U.S. soldiers killed during the war.
A 10-member U.S. forensics team sent to North Korea in July found the four
sets of remains. The bodies are believed to be the remains of soldiers of the
8th Calvary, 1st Battalion, who died while fighting ``some very vicious
battles'' against the Communist Chinese in October 1950, Liotta said.
That site in Unsan County, located in the northwestern part of North Korea,
may also yield remains of soldiers from the 2nd and 3rd Battalions of the 8th
Cavalry, Liotta added.
``We believe our records indicate there were losses of about 350 American
soldiers in that general battlefield area,'' he said.
Liotta said North Korea has opened its archives to the Americans for the
first time, leading to hopes that more possible burial sites of Americans
will be identified.
The archive research team has given ``extremely optimistic and favorable''
reports, he said. The North Koreans have shared unit histories, shoot-down
logs of anti-aircraft, personal war records and even some wreckage on which
the team has found serial numbers. They also are getting access to some
identification tags and cards the North Koreans have, he said.
``This is the first time we've done this kind of (archival) work with the
North Koreans before,'' he said.
The recovery of American war dead is a key U.S. demand for improving
relations with North Korea. The United States, which fought on South Korea's
side in the Korean conflict, has no diplomatic relations with the communist
North.
About 8,100 U.S. servicemen remain unaccounted for from the Korean War, which
killed more than 50,000 Americans. So far, 209 sets of remains have been
returned to the United States, but only seven have been positively
identified.
In the first joint U.S.-North Korea recovery in 1996, one set of remains was
returned.
The Korean War ended with no peace treaty - only a shaky armistice that left
the two Koreas still technically at war. Their border remains the most
heavily guarded in the world, with 2 million troops on both sides. About
37,000 U.S. troops are in South Korea under a mutual defense pact.
PAY $672,000 TO CONDUCT FIVE SEARCHES FOR REMAINS (DEC 97):
Date: December 8, 1997
The Associated Press
WASHINGTON (AP) - The Clinton administration has agreed to pay North
Korea $672,000 to conduct a series of five searches in 1998 for the
remains of U.S. servicemen killed on Korean War battlefields, the
Pentagon announced Monday.
That would bring to nearly $1 million the amount of U.S. government
compensation to North Korea over two years for access to areas of the
communist nation where thousands of American troops died in fighting
with North Korean forces and troops from China,which intervened in the
fall of 1950.
Three joint U.S.-North Korean searches this year yielded the remains
of six American servicemen, none of whom has been positively
identified.
Under terms of an agreement reached in the early morning hours Sunday
in New York after days of negotiations, a team of 10 Americans,
including forensic scientists and anthropologists, will conduct
excavations in two areas.
The first three searches, starting April 21, will be in Kujang County,
a mountainous area along the Chongchongang River. The last two
searches, ending Oct. 15, will be near Kaechon City, about 20 miles
southwest of Kujang County.
Larry Greer, a Pentagon spokesman, said there are mass burial sites in
these areas thought to contain the remains of soldiers of the U.S.
Army's 2nd Infantry Division, which was driven south by Chinese forces
in November and early December 1950. He said as many as 1,700 U.S.
soldiers fell in these areas.
Greer said the searchers would not return to the site they worked in
1997, in Unsan County, because it yielded so few remains. ``Both sides
were looking for more productivity,'' he said.
Using what Greer called an agreed formula of compensation for fuel and
services, North Korea will be paid $134,400 for each of the five
searches in 1998. The total of $672,000 is in addition to $316,500
paid for this year's three searches.
PACT HIKES MIA RECOVERY WORK IN KOREA (MAR 98): The following was excerpted from The Sacramento Bee: Tuesday, March 31, 1998
PACT HIKES MIA RECOVERY WORK IN KOREA
Wayne Wilson Bee Staff Writer
Looking back more than 47 years, Clifford Meyer remembers the
bodies of fellow Marines strapped to the fenders and hoods of
vehicles, and to the artillery in tow.
"We tried our best to bring out our dead and wounded," the
68-year-old Korean War veteran recalled last week from his Citrus
Heights home.
But with 10 divisions of Chinese pushing Meyer and other U.N.
troops back from the Manchurian border, that wasn't always possible.
"We were forced to bury some of our men at Chosin. We simply had
no way to transport them out of there," he said.
Meyer's experiences were similar to those endured by countless
other U.S. personnel fighting the "Forgotten War" in Korea.
By the time hostilities ended on July 27, 1953, more than 8,100
U.S. servicemen were unaccounted for in Korea.
But there is new hope that some of those missing in action will be
found and identified.
As a result of two negotiated agreements, joint remains-recovery
operations are being accelerated in North Korea this year, according
to Larry Greer of the POW/Missing Personnel Division of the
Department of Defense.
And a nationwide community outreach effort has been initiated to
locate family members and friends of missing servicemen, he said.
"When we look at what the potential is, we know we must
re-establish contact with those family members out there who may be
able to help us" identify the remains, Greer said.
Three joint recovery operations in 1997 located the bodies of six
U.S. soldiers, and five more expeditions are being launched in April,
one in an area of North Korea where as many as 1,700 GIs were lost to
the Chinese.
"If we start bringing back hundreds," Greer said, "we need to be
linked with their families."
In addition to battlefields, the search teams will be going to POW
campsites and some areas where American soldiers buried their own,
Greer said.
Under the agreement, the United States will reimburse North Korea
about $130,000 for each of the joint recovery operations to cover the
costs of food, water, fuel and any damage done to personal property
during the searches, such as the excavation of rice paddies, Greer
said.
The money will come from the regular operating budget of the
Department of Defense.
"I think it's a great thing," Meyer said of the recovery
operations. "We'd like to get our buddies back. It's something that
should have been done years ago by our government."
In the early '90s, North Korea handed over the skeletal remains of
what it said were several hundred GIs.
But an examination of the bones and bone fragments proved that
they had been mixed, some even with animal remains, and could not be
properly sorted and identified, Greer said.
"We asked them in '94 to stop the unilateral recovery of those
remains," Greer said. "Their techniques were not sophisticated
enough to make the discoveries meaningful."
Now, Greer said, scientific technology "can make links between
maternal bloodlines and skeletal remains."
That is one reason the nationwide effort is being made to contact
the relatives of those who have not been accounted for.
"We welcome any lead family members can give us," said Tom Perry,
chief of the U.S. Air Force Missing Persons Branch. "We need to know
who the primary next of kin is to aid in future identifications."
According to Meyer, who served with the 7th Marines, 1st Marine
Division, in Korea, and is chapter president of the River City Chosin
Few, Korean War Veterans (they call themselves the Chosin Few because
so few troops at Chosin Reservoir returned), recovered remains are
sent to the Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii for
identification.
Each of the military branches has a separate casualty office to
collect the names, addresses and relationships of family members who
lost loved ones in Korea.
Air Force families can send electronic mail via the Internet at
pow-mia@hq.afpc.af.mil or call toll-free (800) 531-5501 .
The Army's toll-free number is (800) 892-2490; Navy and Coast
Guard families can call (800) 443-9298 and the Marines can be reached
at (800) 847-1597.
MIA REMAINS RETURNED FROM NORTH KOREA (NOV 98): The following was excerpted from Clari News:
Remains repatriated at Panmunjon.(Click on photo to enlarge)PANMUNJOM, Korea, Nov 6 (AFP) - North Korea on Friday handed
nine sets of human remains, believed to be US soldiers killed in the
Korean War nearly 50 years ago, across the demilitarised zone
between the rival Koreas. The repatriation of US troops, thought to have died while
battling communist North Korea under the United Nations flag in
1950, was the largest transfer between the Cold War enemies here,
officials said. "We understand the remains were repatriated to South Korea at
11:00 a.m. (0200) today and will in time be taken to special
laboratories in Hawaii for formal identification," a US official in
Seoul said. The ceremony was held in the heavily fortified truce village of
Panmunjom on the Korean border where fighting in the 1950-53
conflict was ended by the signing of a truce in 1953.
North Korean troops in green dress unfiorm carried the nine
coffins, draped in the United Nations flag, to the military
demarcation line separating the two countries and handed them over
to troops of the UN Command. The latest set of remains were excavated at sites along the
Chong Chon River, 162 kilometers (100 miles) north of Pyongyang by a
routine joint US-North Korean team searching for US troops still
missing in action (MIAs). The US authorities here say the bones likely belong to troops of
the US 25th infantry and 2nd infantry divisions killed between
November 26 and December 2, 1950 when US forces in the area were
overrun by Chinese communist troops. Former prisoners of war and servicemen had indicated to US
investigators that a number of comrades who died in battle or on
prisoner of war death marches were buried in the area, officials
said in Washington. The two sides, while opposed split ideologically and locked in
several international diplomatic tussles, have cooperated since 1996
in locating and repatriating the remains of US MIAs.
US troops fought under the UN banner during the war which pitted
the United States and South Korea against North Korea and China
after North Korean troops invaded the South in June 1950.
The two sides remain technically at war in the absence of a
permanent peace treaty.
NORTH KOREA TO EXPAND RECOVERY OF US REMAINS: PENTAGON (DEC 98) The following was excerpted from Clari News. WASHINGTON, Dec 14 (AFP) - North Korea has agreed to expand
three-year-old joint efforts with the US military to recover remains
of Americans missing in action from the Korean War, the Pentagon
said Monday. US and North Korean officials agreed to an expanded schedule of
six joint recovery operations between April and November, the fourth
consecutive year that US military personnel have searched for
remains in North Korea, the Pentagon said.
The agreement on the joint recovery operations came despite a
diplomatic impasse between Washington and Pyongyang over access to
an underground site that Washington suspects is intended to house a
nuclear facility. Bob Jones, deputy assistant secretary of defense for POW/Missing
Personnel Affairs, said the agreement reached in four days of
negotiations in New York "takes us far beyond our three previous
years' operations." "We formalized the concept of a joint investigation team to
locate and interview witnesses to accelerate the pace of recovery,
long before our excavation teams begin their work," he said in a
statement. "This concept gives us the potential to recover more remains by
using our people more efficiently," he said.
The remains of 29 soldiers have been recovered in the past three
years, one of whom has been identified by the US Army Central
Identification Laboratory in Hawaii. Under the agreement, US archivists will be granted access to
documents relating to US personnel lost or captured during the war.
US researchers conducted a review of archives in museums and records
collected in North Korea in 1997-98.
US SEEKS CHINA HELP FOR KOREA MIA'S (APR 99): The following was excerpted from The Associated Press. US Seeks China Help for Korea MIA's
The Associated Press
By ROBERT BURNS WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Clinton administration has asked China to help
account for several Americans missing from the Korean War, including two
pilots apparently killed when their plane was shot down on a CIA covert
mission in Manchuria in November 1952, according to internal Pentagon
records. The administration also has requested information on three missing
corporals -- Roger Dumas, William Glasser and Richard Desautels -- who
were held in a Chinese-run POW camp in North Korea. Several repatriated
American prisoners reported seeing the three alive and well at the close
of the war in 1953. Pentagon officials have been pressing the Chinese communist government for
more than a year to open its wartime records, but with little result. The
People's Liberation Army has insisted that war losses are a closed issue,
while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs has declared wartime records to be
classified. Chinese soldiers intervened in the Korean War in October 1950 after the
American-led UN force, propelled by the Marines' famous Inchon landing the
month before, fought their way to the Yalu River on China's border. Later,
the Chinese army ran the prisoner of war camps in North Korea, and it
moved some American prisoners into China to be interrogated, according to
declassified US records. In the face of China's reluctance to pursue the matter, Sen. Bob Smith,
R-N.H., wrote to President Clinton on Tuesday urging that he push the
issue when he meets at the White House on Thursday with Chinese Prime
Minister Zhu Rongji. Smith said US diplomatic and defense officials had
made no headway. Mike Hammer, a spokesman for the National Security Council, said, ``The
POW issue and the issue of missing Americans is certainly something that
is going to come up.'' He said Clinton himself probably would raise the
issue but if not, then Secretary of State Madeleine Albright would. ``We have some specific ideas in mind'' about what the Chinese could do to
be helpful, Hammer said. ``Certainly going back through Chinese records to
make sure there is no information that hasn't been uncovered that might
lead to getting some information on these missing folks.'' Defense Secretary William Cohen raised the matter in general terms when he
visited Beijing in January 1998, but it has not moved higher on the
administration's policy agenda because other delicate matters such as
alleged Chinese stealing of US nuclear weapons secrets have complicated
relations. Among the Americans the Clinton administration has asked China for
information about are Robert Snoddy and Norman Schwartz, pilots of an
unmarked C-47 aircraft that was knocked out of the sky over Manchuria on
Nov. 29, 1952, while attempting to pick up an anti-Communist Chinese
agent. On board were two CIA officers, John T. Downey and Richard G.
Fecteau, who were captured, imprisoned in Beijing and held until President
Nixon publicly acknowledged they were CIA officers. It had been generally believed that Downey and Fecteau were the only
Americans aboard the plane. But a June 1998 Defense Department document
released by Smith's office this week identified Snoddy and Schwartz as
Americans. It said they were killed and presumed buried at the crash site.
The Pentagon wants China to provide any information it might have about
the pilots' remains. A Chinese government memo presented to President Ford in December 1975
mentioned Schwartz and Snoddy, without explicitly saying they were
Americans. It said their bodies were buried at the crash site. ``Owing to
the passage of time, it is impossible to locate them now,'' the memo said. Regarding the three unaccounted for American corporals -- Dumas, Glasser
and Desautels -- who were seen alive and well by other US POWs at the
close of hostilities in North Korea, the Pentagon wrote in a June 1998
cable to the American Embassy in Beijing that China must be pushed to
provide answers. ``We believe the Chinese should be able to account for these
individuals,'' the cable said. The Clinton administration is seeking other types of cooperation,
including: Access to a military museum in Andong, a city on the Chinese side of the
Yalu where many American POWs were interrogated by Chinese officers, and a
museum in Shanghai. The Pentagon believes these museums contain
information about missing Americans, including the military identification
tags of two Air Force fliers who are unaccounted for from the war: Maj.
George A. Davis Jr. and Capt. Troy Cope. A copy of a film titled ``Jiaoliang,'' which the Pentagon says contains
footage of US Korean War POWs. A Chinese review of records of military units engaged in controlling POW
camps and burying remains of US servicemen, particularly around the
Chosin, Unsan and Kunu-ri battlefields in North Korea.
N. KOREA SKIPS MIA HANDOVER SERVICE (JUN 99): The following was excerpted from The Associated Press. N. Korea Skips MIA Handover Service
The Associated Press
By Y. J. AHN PANMUNJOM, Korea (AP) - North Korean officials did not show up today
for a ceremony to hand over remains believed to be those of US soldiers
killed in the Korean War, the American-led UN Command said. Command officials from Seoul waited for five minutes before deciding
that the North Koreans would not arrive for the ceremony at this border
village inside the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas. The North Koreans were to have transferred four sets of remains
unearthed by a joint U.S.-North Korea recovery team in northern North
Korea early this month. US Maj. Gen. Michael M. Dunn, representing the command, issued a
statement denouncing North Korea for failing to return the remains
``for reasons that defy explanation and understanding.'' ``The return of remains is a purely humanitarian issue,'' Dunn said.
``The North's refusal to turn over the remains ... demonstrates their
insensitivity to the families of those who have given the ultimate
sacrifice. ``It again displays their unwillingness to take steps to further reduce
tension on the Korean Peninsula.'' US and South Korean officials suspected that the North's move might be
in response to a naval clash with rival South Korea on Tuesday, in
which one of its vessels was sunk and several others badly damaged.
About 30 North Korean sailors are believed to have died. The North's media today accused the United States of dispatching
additional naval ships and warplanes in support of the South Korean
military. ``The US madcap arms buildup and heightened posture arouse vigilance as
they aggravate the tension on the Korean Peninsula,'' the North's
foreign news outlet, KCNA, said. A US Navy ship sailed into South Korean waters Thursday, the first of
several ships to be deployed on a mission to keep the peace after the
clash over a disputed zone in the Yellow Sea. The repatriation, originally scheduled for Thursday, had been canceled
and later rescheduled for today. North Korea began repatriating the remains of American soldiers killed
in the 1950-53 Korean War in 1990. In 1996, it began allowing US
forensic experts to search for the remains in its territory. Twenty sets of remains believed to be those of American soldiers have
been unearthed and returned by North Korea since the joint recovery
operation began. Six US recovery operations are planned for 1999 under an agreement
reached in New York in December. The United States pays North Korea
$209,000 for each operation to cover wages for North Korean workers and
other expenses. About 8,100 US servicemen remain unaccounted for from the Korean War,
in which more than 50,000 Americans were killed.
REMAINS IDENTIFIED (JUN 99):
Department of Defense
No. 305-99
IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 23, 1999
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
KOREAN WAR SOLDIERS' REMAINS IDENTIFIED
The remains of two soldiers missing in action from the Korean War have been
identified and returned to their families for burial in the United States.
They are identified as US Army Cpl. Charles W. Tillman, Columbia, SC, and US
Army Pfc. Herbert Ardis, Detroit, Mich. The remains of Tillman and Ardis were
recovered about three miles apart in an area approximately 60 miles north of
Pyongyang, the capital of North Korea.
The remains of both soldiers were recovered during investigations and
excavations directed by the Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office following
negotiations with North Korea in 1996, 1997 and 1998. The US teams conducted ten
excavations from 1996-99 inside North Korea and have recovered 39 remains of
American servicemen lost during the war. Three have been identified, including
Tillman and Ardis, with approximately 8,200 still missing in action.
The recovery of the remains of both these soldiers, as well as the forensic
identification work, was carried out by the US Army's Central Identification
Laboratory, Hawaii.
On Nov. 25, 1950, elements of the 9th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division,
were attacking enemy positions near the Chongchon River in North Korea. That
night, Chinese communist forces launched an all-out frontal attack along the
entire regimental front. The following day, American forces withdrew from the
area of the attacks, and Tillman was reported as missing in action.
In August 1998, a joint U.S.-North Korean team excavated an isolated burial site
in P'yongan-Pukto Province. The team recovered Tillman's remains along with
American military artifacts such as a mess kit spoon and military buttons.
During the Nov. 26, 1950, battles with Chinese communist units near the
Chongchon River in North Korea, Ardis' unit was surrounded, but broke through
the encirclement and took up a defensive position where they continued to repel
the enemy for the next two days. But on Nov. 28, his unit encountered a Chinese
roadblock, where they abandoned their vehicles and retreated to the south on
foot. Ardis was listed as missing in action as a result of these encounters. His
remains were recovered by a joint US/North Korean team in P'yongan-Pukto
Province in July 1998.
22 Oct 1999
U.S., North Korea End Stalemate Over MIA Remains,
by Rudi Williams American Forces Press Service
EXCERPT: "WASHINGTON -- Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary Bob Jones left Oct. 21 to accept remains believed to be four Korean War GIs that North Korean officials refused to repatriate last May. Jones is the chief of DoD's Office of POW/Missing Personnel Affairs. His trip is the result of an Oct. 14 agreement U.S. and North Korean officials negotiated in New York to end the five-month-old stalemate, spokesman Larry Greer said.
Greer said the remains were recovered by a U.S.-North Korean recovery team in northwest North Korea near where other remains were found on earlier excavations. He said negotiators agreed to establish procedures for repatriating of remains at the airport in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital.
After receiving the remains, Jones will launch the sixth joint U.S.-North Korean search and recovery operation in that country this year. The operation is part of an agreement hammered out by the two countries in December 1998 that calls for six joint operations between April and November 1999. The agreement also included two joint archival reviews, during which U.S. archivists can access North Korean documents relating to U.S. personnel lost or captured during the Korean War. Jones went to North Korea to keep a pledge.
He said that when the stalemate began in May he vowed to families of missing servicemen and to veterans organizations to "do everything I could to ensure that this impasse was resolved and that the remains were repatriated." His agenda is to fly the remains to Yokota Air Base, Japan, for appropriate repatriation ceremonies, then to continue to Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii.
There, the remains will be given to the Army's Central Identification Laboratory for identification purposes. Jones said the United States has asked the North Koreans for greater access to areas such as the Chosin Reservoir and former POW camps, where greater numbers of missing might be found.
The Chinese government is helping the U.S. coordinate meetings with the North Koreans, Jones said, which "shows an increased level of corporation on behalf of the Chinese government, and that's very important to us." Jones said there are 8,215 American servicemen still missing from the Korean War.
Each service has established a toll-free number to keep families advised of Korean War and Cold War remains recovery operations. Family members should contact the appropriate service casualty office to provide their name, address and relationship to their loved one. The Army number is 1- 800-892-2490; the Navy's, 1-800-443-9298; the Air Force's, 1-800-531-5501; and the Marine Corps', 1-800-847-1597. Families of civilians missing from these conflicts may contact the State Department at (202) 647-6769...."
Jan 28, 2000
Korean War Remains Discovered
.c The Associated Press
By ROBERT BURNS
WASHINGTON (AP) - North Korea has discovered more than 400 remains of people likely to be American servicemen killed in the Korean War, a deputy North Korean representative to the United Nations said Friday.
Li Gun said his country has offered to return the remains, without conditions. He said the U.S. government would have to act quickly, because the area where the remains were found in December and January is being converted to cropland.
At the Pentagon office in charge of POW-MIA affairs, spokesman Larry Greer said North Korea notified the Pentagon of the discovery this week.
``We've asked for more details,'' Greer said. He said his office is leery of unilateral returns of war remains, because in the past they have lacked the anthropological detail needed for individual identifications.
In a telephone interview from his New York office, Li said his government believes it will find many more remains, beyond the approximately 415 already uncovered, in an area of North Pyongan Province where land is being moved to create cropland.
About 8,200 U.S. servicemen are listed as missing from the 1950-53 Korean War, and the Pentagon has said it believes a few thousand are potentially recoverable from North Korea. In joint recovery operations over the past few years, 42 sets of remains have been recovered. Negotiations on arranging joint recovery operations for this year broke down in December after the North Koreans demanded that the United States donate materials and equipment for children's clothing factories.
On Tuesday, Li's office sent letters to several U.S. veterans organizations that said, ``Some remains of the U.S. troops killed in the Korean War are being recovered by bulldozers.'' The letter did not mention the 400 figure. It said that once the land-moving operation is finished, ``It will be difficult for us to confirm the remains sites and unable to find the remains forever.''
Frank Metersky of the Chosin Few group of Korean War veterans said Friday he doubts the North Koreans' sincerity.
``We all agree this is a political ploy'' to get the Pentagon involved in humanitarian assistance as a condition for the return of remains, he said. ``We do not want our government to pay ransom.''
Li said his government had ``suggested'' but not demanded that the United States donate children's clothing factories as a means of compensating North Korea for its cooperation in remains-recovery operations. He said the intent was to show average North Korean citizens, whose help he said is vital to recovering remains, that the United States is well intentioned and is no longer the enemy.
AP-NY-01-28-00 1751EST
Copyright 2000 The Associated Press.
Saturday, May 6, 2000
Officials search for remains in Seoul
,
By Tammy Cournoyer
Seoul bureau
EXCERPT:
SEOUL - Eight members of the Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii are digging at a local hospital for remains believed to be those of two American soldiers missing since the Korean War.
A South Korean worker discovered human remains and helmets while working on a pipeline at Seoul National University Hospital in 1990. The helmets are believed to be those worn by American troops.
Thinking he would get in trouble, the worker reburied the remains and helmets about 40 feet away near a brick wall on the hospital grounds. In 1998, the worker mentioned his actions to an American, who then reported the incident to authorities.
Even though the team has a good idea of where to dig thanks to the worker's memory, the excavation is still a tedious process.
Team members are using a metal detector, Global Positioning System equipment, ground-penetrating radar and excavation tools to help recover the remains.
Team members first use picks and hoes to loosen the soil, which is then shoveled into buckets and sent to an adjacent screening area to be sifted. The team is digging in a 10-by-10-foot area.
It is believed that the remains are about six to nine feet down.
"It should take three to five days to excavate the area," said Maj. Stanley McMillian, leader of the team, which includes mortuary affairs specialists to handle the remains and a photographer to document the excavation.
Dr. James Pokines, an anthropologist from the ID lab, is on hand to identify and tag any remains found. The remains can be sent to Hawaii for possible identification only after U.S. and South Korean officials give their approval.
When the ID team finishes its work in Seoul, it will travel to Kangwon Province in the northeast part of the country to investigate an area believed to contain one or two sets of American remains.
The team is expected to return to leave South Korea on May 11.
Nearly 55,000 American troops died fighting during the Korean War. Of those, the remains of 8,100 are still missing.
McMillian explained that the American people want the remains of loved ones recovered at all costs.
"We are charged with going anywhere in the world to do that," he said.
September 1, 2000
Remains of 14 More U.S. 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, and flown on a U.S. Air Force aircraft from Pyongyang, North Korea, to Yokota Air Base, Japan, under escort of a uniformed U.S. 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 U.S. Pacific Command ceremony there, the remains will be transferred to the U.S. 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 U.S. 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 U.S. - North Korean teams have recovered 26 sets of remains so far this year, surpassing the total in any single, full year of operations.
Remains believed to be those of 12 American soldiers missing since 1950 were returned to the United States July 22, after being discovered by a joint U.S.-North Korean team about 60 miles north of the capital of Pyongyang, an area that was the scene of fierce fighting between U.S. and Chinese forces in November 1950. Of the 88,000 U.S. servicemembers missing in action from all conflicts, more than 8,100 are from the Korean War, most of them lost in the North
15 Korean War Vets Repatriated in Largest MIA Recovery Operation
Remains believed to be those of 15 American soldiers, missing in action from the Korean War, were repatriated on Veterans Day, Saturday, Nov. 11, Korea time. This is the largest number of remains recovered during a single joint recovery operation.
The remains were flown on a U.S. Air Force aircraft from Pyongyang, North Korea, under escort of a uniformed U.S. honor guard to Yokota Air Base, Japan, where a United Nations Command repatriation ceremony was held.
A joint U.S.-North Korea team operating in Unsan and Kujang counties, about 60 miles north of Pyongyang, recovered the remains during an operation that began Oct. 17. The area was the site of battles between Communist Chinese forces and the U.S. Army's 1st Cavalry Division, and 2nd and 25th Infantry Divisions in November 1950.
The 20-person U.S. team is composed primarily of specialists from the U.S. Army's Central Identification Laboratory Hawaii (CILHI).
This year's work in North Korea was the most productive to-date, recovering 65 sets of remains during five operations. As a result of negotiated agreements with North Korea, led by the Defense Department's POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO), 107 sets of remains have been recovered in 17 joint recovery operations since 1996. Five servicemen have been positively identified and returned to their families for burial with full military honors. Another 10 are nearing the final stages of the forensic identification process.
Officials at DPMO have initiated contact with North Korean officials to begin preliminary planning for formal discussions in December to establish a schedule of operations for 2001. Of the 88,000 U.S. servicemembers missing in action from all conflicts, more than 8,100 are from the Korean War.
October 27, 2002: The two Cold War foes have recovered the remains of more than 170 US soldiers since a joint hunt began in 1996. So far 30 have been positively
identified and Washington has paid a search cost to Pyongyang.
More than 8,100 US soldiers are said to be missing in action from the war,
according to US defense department statistics.
U.S. MIA Remains Believed Recovered
Sunday October 27, 2002 2:30 AM
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - Eleven sets of remains believed to be from U.S. soldiers killed in the 1950-53 Korean War have been recovered in North Korea and will be repatriated this week, the U.S. military said.
The remains will be flown from the North's capital of Pyongyang to a U.S. base in Japan on Tuesday, the U.S. military command in Seoul said late Saturday in a news release.
Joint U.S. and Korean teams recovered the remains near the Chosin Reservoir and nearby Unsan county, about 60 miles north of Pyongyang.
The U.S. Army's 7th Infantry Division fought Chinese forces near the Chosin Reservoir in late 1950. The 1st Cavalry and 25th Infantry Divisions fought communist forces in nearby Unsan county during that period, the release said.
The United States and North Korea agreed in June to hold three excavation operations this year. The coming repatriation marks the last of this year's operations.
More than 8,100 U.S. soldiers are still missing from the Korean War. Joint operations with the North Koreans have recovered 178 sets of remains since 1996, with 13 sets positively identified and returned to their families.
Remains of U.S. Servicemen Recovered in North Korea
Remains believed to be those of 11 American soldiers missing in action from the Korean War will be repatriated Tuesday in North Korea.
The remains will be flown aboard a U.S. Air Force aircraft from Pyongyang, North Korea, under escort of a uniformed U.S. honor guard, to Yokota Air Base, Japan, where a formal U.N. Command repatriation ceremony will be held.
A joint team operating near the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea recovered remains believed to be those of U.S. Army soldiers from the 7th Infantry Division who fought against Chinese forces November-December 1950. The recovery teams were composed primarily of specialists from the Army's Central Identification Laboratory Hawaii (CILHI).
A second CILHI team recovered remains in Unsan county, about 60 miles north of Pyongyang. The area was the site of battles between Communist forces and the U.S. Army's 1st Cavalry and 25th Infantry Divisions in November 1950. Approximately 1,000 Americans are estimated to have been lost in battles of the Chosin campaign.
The Defense Department's Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office negotiated terms with the North Koreans in June, which led to the scheduling of three operations this year. This repatriation marks the last of this year's operations.
Twenty-five individual joint operations have been conducted since 1996 in North Korea, during which remains believed to be those of at least 178 U.S. soldiers have been recovered. Thirteen have been positively identified and returned to their families for burial with military honors.
Of the 88,000 U.S. servicemembers missing in action from all conflicts, more than 8,100 are from the Korean War.
US Servicemen Remains Recovery
US Department of Defense, "Remains of US Servicemen Recovered in North
Korea," Washington DC, 09/24/03) issued a release stating remains believed
to be those of four American soldiers missing in action from the Korean War
have been recovered by two teams of US specialists. A joint team operating
near the Chosin Reservoir in the DPRK recovered two sets of remains
believed to be those of US Army soldiers from the 7th Infantry Division who
fought against PRC forces from November-December 1950.
Approximately 1,000
Americans are estimated to have been lost in battles of the Chosin
campaign. Additionally, a second team recovered two sets of remains in
Unsan County, about 60 miles north of Pyongyang. This area was the site of
battles between communist forces and the US Army s 1st Cavalry and 25th
Infantry Divisions in November 1950.
The Defense Department s Prisoner of
War/Missing Personnel Office negotiated terms with the North Koreans in
July, which led to the scheduling of two, month-long operations this year.
As a matter of policy, these recovery talks deal exclusively with the issue
of recovering the remains of missing Americans. POW/MIA accounting is a
separate, stand-alone humanitarian matter, not tied to any other issue.
The second operation will end on October 28, 2003 when these remains and
others will be repatriated. The 28-person US contingent was composed
primarily of specialists from the Army s Central Identification Laboratory,
Hawaii.
Since 1996, 26 individual joint operations have been conducted in
the DPRK, during which 182 sets of remains believed to be those of US
soldiers have been recovered. Of the 88,000 US service members missing in
action from all conflicts, more than 8,100 are from the Korean War.
More U.S. War Dead Remains Unearthed in North Korea: RFA (Oct 2003)
SEOUL, Oct. 11 (Yonhap) -- Additional sets of remains believed to be those of U.S. soldiers killed during the 1950-53 Korean War have recently been unearthed in North Korea, a U.S.-based radio station reported Saturday.
The remains were found at two major battlegrounds, Unsan, North Pyongan Province, and Jangjin, South Hamgyong Province, by a joint team of U.S. and North Korean officials, Larry Greer, a spokesman for the POW (Prisoner Of War)/Missing Personnel Office at the U.S. Department of Defense, was quoted by the Radio Free Asia as saying.
More Sets of Remains Unearthed in North Korea (Oct 2003)
SEOUL, Oct. 24 (Yonhap) -- Several more sets of remains believed to be those of U.S. soldiers killed during the Korean War have recently been unearthed in North Korea, a U.S.-based radio station reported Friday.
The remains were found at the sites of two major battlegrounds during the 1950-53 war, in Unsan, North Pyongan Province, and Jangjin, South Hamgyong Province, by a joint team of U.S. and North Korean officials, Radio Free Asia said.
U.S.-North Korea Strike New Arrangements on MIA Operations Contact (Feb 2004)
On 12 Feb 2004 the Department of Defense issued a press release that reported that US
and DPRK negotiators agreed Wednesday to improve markedly several areas of
cooperation in operations to recover the remains of American soldiers
missing in action from the Korean War.
During talks in Bangkok, Thailand,
both sides agreed to resume repatriating remains recovered during joint
recovery operations in North Korea across the demilitarized zone at
Panmunjom. This practice has not occurred since 1999. US team members will
accompany the remains into the ROK.
Additionally, supplies and equipment
for the 2004 operations will be moved by ground transportation across the
DMZ. "I am encouraged by the level of cooperation the North Koreans
demonstrated during these talks," said Jerry D. Jennings, deputy assistant
secretary of defense for POW/missing personnel affairs. "We accomplished
much at no additional cost to the US government, and these new procedures
will streamline the process of getting our teams in and out of North Korea,
and bringing our fallen heroes back home to their families."
For the first
time, the DPRK side also agreed to present to their senior leaders a
proposal to establish a single point of contact to resolve reports of
Americans living in the DPRK. In the past, the North Koreans refused to
even broach the subject denying that any Americans missing from the Korean
War are still alive in the DPRK. "This doesn't resolve the live sighting
issue in North Korea, but at least this time they agreed to discuss it and
consider our request," said Jennings.
POW/MIA Recovery Teams Deploy to North Korea North Korea and the United States have recently agreed to hold five rounds of joint excavation work this year to unearth remains of U.S. soldiers killed during the Korean War. Recovery efforts will be made simultaneously at two different places -- Unsan, a town located 100 kilometers north of the North Korean capital of Pyongyang, and Changjin in South Hamgyong Province -- from late April through November.
The Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command on 5 Apr 2004 released the following press release:
"Two teams of
specialists from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command located in Hawaii
deployed today to North Korea to recover remains believed to be those of
American soldiers missing in action from the Korean War. This mission will
mark the first time JPAC has ever supplied its teams via the Demilitarized
Zone (DMZ). Traditionally equipment has been flown in. One joint team will
operate near the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea hoping to recover remains
believed to be those of U.S. Army soldiers from the 7th Infantry Division
who fought against Chinese forces in November-December 1950. Approximately
1,100 Americans are unaccounted for from battles of the Chosin Campaign. A
second team will conduct recovery operations in Unsan County, about 60
miles north of Pyongyang. This area was the site of battles between
communist forces and the U.S. Army's 1st Cavalry and 25th Infantry
Divisions in November 1950. This is the 32nd Joint Recovery Operation in
North Korea. Of the 88,000 U.S. servicemembers missing in action from all
conflicts, more than 8,100 are from the Korean War. The U.S. Government,
the Department of Defense and the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command remain
committed to scientific excellence and the fullest possible accounting of
all Americans still missing or unaccounted for in defense of this great
country. JPAC will continue to fulfill our nation's promise to bring home
those who gave their lives on foreign soil."
The following is from the Napsnet on 9 Apr 2004: Memorandum on Areas In Which US/DPRK Joint Recovery Operations Have Been
Conducted 1996-2004
By Ashton Ormes, Research Director of Defense Prisoner of War, Missing
Personnel Office
It is estimated that the remains of over 5,000 Americans lost in the Korean
War are still in the DPRK. Since 1996, the US Department of Defense's
POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) has been successful in arranging with
the government of the DPRK for the joint recovery of the remains these
American servicemen. Joint recovery operations, or JRO's, have typically
involved personnel from the US Army Central Identification Laboratory,
Hawaii (CILHI) working in conjunction with DPRK military personnel and
normally last about one month. Between July 1996 and October 2002,
twenty-five JRO's were conducted in the DPRK. The purpose of this paper is
to outline the specific geographic areas in which JRO's have been conducted
during the seven-year history of this program.
Past arrangements between DPMO and the DPRK's Army (the Korean People's
Army or KPA) have, over time, provided JRO access to four county sized
administrative areas within the DPRK. These are Kaechon City in South
Pyongan Province, Unsan and Kujang Counties in North Pyongan Province, and
Changjin County in South Hamgyong Province. As points of reference,
Kaechon City, Unsan County, and Kujang County all border Yongbyon County in
the Northwestern DPRK and were the locale of heavy fighting during the
initial phase of the Chinese intervention into the Korean War in November
and December 1950. Changjin County in the Northeastern DPRK surrounds the
Chosin (named Changjin in Korean) Reservoir and was also the scene of heavy
fighting during November and December 1950. It should also be noted that
during each JRO, a two-man liaison element from DPMO has been located in
the city of Pyongyang with the ability to travel by vehicle to visit
recovery teams in outlying areas.
The specific areas in which JRO's were conducted varied from year to
year. In 1996, a single JRO was conducted. This took place in Unsan
County during the month of July. Three JRO's were conducted in
1997. These also took place in Unsan County with the first beginning in
July and the last ending in October.
1998 saw an expansion in the number of JRO's conducted and a change in
location to Kujang County. A total of five JRO's were conducted between
April and October 1998. JRO's returned to Kujang county again in 1999, but
only three operations were conducted that year. The first two JRO's took
place in the April through June time period while the final JRO of 1999
lasted from October through November. Five slightly shorter JRO periods
were executed in 2000 between the months of June and November with the
recovery teams operating in both Unsan and Kujang Counties.
In 2001, operations were expanded to permit two recovery teams to operate
simultaneously in widely different areas of the DPRK. This allowed JRO's
to begin in the area east of the Chosin (Changjin) Reservoir while still
maintaining operations in the Northwestern DPRK. For the first three JRO's
of 2001 (April through August) one recovery team operated in both Unsan and
Kujang Counties while a second team recovered remains in Kaechon
City. During the final two JRO's of 2001 (September through November) the
second recovery team moved to Chanjin Country and conducted operations in
the area east of the Chosin (Changjin) Reservoir while the first team
remained in Unsan and Kujang Counties. In 2002, JRO's began in July and
continued through October, allowing for three full JRO periods. During
each JRO, one recovery team operated in Unsan County while the while the
second team operated in eastern Changjin County. A similar pattern was
followed in 2003, when two full JRO periods were executed, allowing two
recovery teams to operate simultaneously from August through October. The
location of operations in 2003 and 2004 remain Unsan and eastern Changjin
Counties.
Remains Repatriated (May 2004) Nineteen sets of remains believed to be those of American soldiers missing in action from the Korean War were recovered by two
teams of U.S. specialists and will be repatriated to U.S. control at
Yongsan Military Compound in Seoul May 27.
The joint remains recovery work is the result of negotiations with
North Korea led by the Defense Department’s POW/Missing Personnel
Office. The remains will be returned overland across the demilitarized
zone for the first time since 1999. Jerry D. Jennings, who led the
negotiations with North Korea, will be the ranking Department of
Defense official participating in the repatriation.
A joint team operating near the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea
recovered 12 sets of remains believed to be those of U.S. Army
soldiers from the 7th Infantry Division who fought against Chinese
forces from November-December 1950. Approximately 1,000 Americans are
estimated to have been lost in battles of the Chosin campaign. Additionally, a second team recovered seven sets of remains in Unsan County, about 60 miles north of Pyongyang. That area was the site of battles in November 1950.
NOTICE/DISCLAIMER: The content of this page is unofficial and the views and opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of me or any of those linked from my site. Information presented is intended for entertainment purposes only. Links to other web pages are provided for convenience and do not, in any way, constitute an endorsement of the linked pages or any commercial or private issues or products presented there. None of this site has been endorsed by the DOD, any branch of the military, or Mickey Mouse.
| |
