Military searches for Korean War, Cold War families
April 12, 1999
Air Force Seeks Families of Korean War Unaccounted-For
Source: Thomas R. Perry, Chief, Missing Persons Branch
Department of the Air Force
HQ AFPC/DPWCM, 550 C St. West St 15
Randolph AFB TX 78150-4717
The Department of Defense and the four military services are mounting an
intense public outreach effort to locate family members of servicemen who
remain unaccounted for from the Korean War. According to Tom Perry, Chief
of the Air Force Missing Persons Branch, "We have begun to open some doors
in North Korea, and we need to reestablish contact with the families of our
unaccounted-for servicemen."
As a result of two negotiated agreements, the US has conducted four joint
operations inside North Korea during 1996 and 1997 to seek answers and to
locate and recover the remains of US servicemen lost during the Korean War.
In the four operations, the remains of what are believed to be seven American
soldiers have been recovered. One has already been identified and returned
to his family for burial with full military honors.
Perry added, "As we're able to obtain additional circumstance of loss information
or recover remains from North Korea, we'll need to inform the families.
Unfortunately, in some cases nearly 45 years elapsed since the Air Force
has had contact with many of our families. We need to know who the primary
next-of-kin is to aid in future identifications. We'd welcome any lead family
members can give us."
Family members of any unaccounted for Korea-era servicemen are asked to provide
their name, address and relationship of their loved one as soon as possible
to the appropriate service casualty office.
Air Force families can call toll-free (800)531-5501 or write by electronic
mail via the Internet pow-mia@hq.afpc.af.mil.
The Army's toll free number is (800)892-2490
The Navy number is (800)443-9298
The Marine Corps's number is (800)847-1597
Each of the services has compiled a partial list of Korean War family contacts,
but with more than 8,100 unaccounted-for servicemen from the war (more than
900 Air Force servicemen), the task is extremely difficult considering the
time elapsed since the cease-fire in Korea.
"We've been using the Internet and any other technology we could acquire,"
Perry said. "But we believe the most effective way to find these families
is by word-of-mouth through veterans, family, active duty and retired military
organizations. That's why we're pushing hard to 'get the word out' in many
different ways. We hope our ongoing efforts in North Korea will result in
bringing closure to families who have sacrificed so much for so long."
Military searches for Korean War, Cold War families
WASHINGTON (AFNS) -- The Department of Defense and the four military
services are expanding their intensive public outreach efforts to locate
family members of Korean War and Cold War servicemen who are unaccounted
for from those conflicts. Contact has been lost with many families since
the cessation of hostilities in Korea in 1953.
The DOD still seeks to account for more than 8,100 servicemen from the Korean
War and another 130 from Cold War aircraft shootdowns. As a result of several
negotiated agreements, the United States has located and recovered in the
past two years the remains of what is believed to be seven U. S. servicemen
lost during the Korean War. One has already been identified and returned
to his family for burial with full military honors.
Specialists from the U. S. Army Central Identification Laboratory and the
Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office conducted four joint recovery operations
in North Korea during 1996 and 1997.
The first of five scheduled 1998 recovery operations in North Korea began
in June. Each will last approximately 25 days and the last operation will
end in October.
Besides remains-recovery operations, North Korean officials have agreed to
a second archival review by U. S. specialists in 1998. Last year, a weeklong
research effort in the People's Liberation Museum in Pyongyang located documents
which may be related to U. S. servicemen. As those documents are correlated
to specific individuals, they are being provided by the military services
to known Korean War families.
The expanded outreach effort is to accomplish several goals. First, family
member reference blood samples are needed to compare to mitochondrial DNA
sequences from recovered skeletal remains. Second, family members often possess
personal or wartime documents that may aid in identifying an unaccounted-for
serviceman. Finally, the military services are seeking to keep family members
updated on specific recovery operations and if remains are recovered and
identified, families will be asked to make decisions regarding the burial
of the serviceman.
Beyond the Korean War outreach effort, families of Cold War unaccounted-for
servicemen are also being sought. Through the work of the U.S.-Russia Joint
Commission on POW/MIAs, the remains of two American servicemen shot down
during the Cold War have been recovered and identified.
Each of the services has established a toll-free number to keep these families
fully informed on Korean War and Cold War remains recovery operations. Family
members of these servicemen should contact the appropriate service casualty
office to provide name, address, and relationship to their loved one.
