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News Release

Press Release | May 5, 2017

Soldier Missing From Korean War Accounted For (Damewood)

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing from the Korean War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.



Army Cpl. Louis A. Damewood, 21, of Carroll County, Maryland, will be buried May 12 in Suffolkk, Virginia. On February 13, 1951, Damewood was a member of Headquarters Company, 3rd Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 2nd Infantry Division, when he was reported missing in action. The unit was attacking a road block set up by opposing forces near Hoengsong, South Korea, when he was declared missing.



In 1953, a returning American prisoner of war reported that Damewood had died in Changsong prisoner of war camp in June 1951. Based on this information, the U.S. Army declared him deceased as of June 13, 1951.



In 1954, United Nations and communist forces exchanged the remains of war dead in what came to be called “Operation Glory.” All remains recovered in Operation Glory were turned over to the Army’s Central Identification Unit for analysis. The unidentified remains were interred as unknowns at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii, known as the “Punchbowl.” One set of remains was designated “Unknown X-14160.”



On Nov. 6, 2013, the remains designated as X-14160 were exhumed and sent to the central identification laboratory for analysis.



To identify Damewood’s remains, scientists from DPAA used dental, chest radiograph comparison and anthropological analyses, which matched his records, as well as circumstantial evidence.



Today, 7,751 Americans remain unaccounted for from the Korean War. Using modern technology, identifications continue to be made from remains that were previously returned by North Korean officials or recovered from North Korea by American recovery teams.



For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for Americans who went missing while serving our country, visit the DPAA website at www.dpaa.mil, find us on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa or call (703) 699-1420.