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News Release

Press Release | July 2, 2018

Funeral Announcement For Soldier Killed During Korean War (Goodwin, E.)

WASHINGTON  –   The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, accounted-for from the Korean War, are being returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

Army Sgt. 1st Class Elmore B. Goodwin, 25, of Norfolk, Virginia, accounted for Aug. 18, 2017, will be buried July 9 in Arlington National Cemetery, near Washington, D.C. In late November 1950, Goodwin was a member of Company G, 2nd Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division, engaged in combat operations against the Chinese People’s Volunteer Forces (CPVF) in the vicinity of Anju, North Korea. Goodwin was reported missing in action on Nov. 27, 1950. When no information regarding Goodwin was reported by returning American POWs, the U.S. Army declared him deceased as of Dec. 31, 1953.

On August 30, 1998, during a Joint Recovery Operation, a Joint U.S./ North Korean recovery team interviewed a witness who claimed to have found human remains in a cornfield in Kujang District. On Sept. 6, 1998, the remains were repatriated to the U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii.

To identify Goodwin’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial (mtDNA) DNA analysis, as well as anthropological analysis, and circumstantial evidence.

DPAA is grateful to the government and people of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, and looks forward to a fulfillment of the commitment made by President Trump and Chairman Kim on the return and recovery of U.S. service members in North Korea.

Today, 7,699 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. Goodwin’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu, along with the others who are missing from the Korean War. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

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) 699-1420/1169.