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News Release

Press Release | Sept. 28, 2018

Funeral Announcement For Soldier Killed During Korean War (Yost, 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. Eugene W. Yost, 18, of Milaca, Minnesota, and accounted for on March 28, 2018, will be buried October 5 in Fort Snelling National Cemetery, Minnesota. In September 1950, Yost was a member of Company E, 2nd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division. Yost’s regiment was responsible for defending the road from Sanju to Taegu in South Korea, and positioned themselves in bordering hills. On September 2, the unit received information that the 19th Regiment North Korea People’s Army would attack in the evening. During the night, the North Koreans overran the cavalry’s positions. Yost was last seen on Sept. 3, 1950, and was reported missing in action when he could not be accounted for.

In March 1951, remains were found in the vicinity of Tongmyongwon, South Korea, in an area that corresponded with where Yost’s regiment fought. The remains, designated Unknown X-742 Tanggok, were unable to be identified and were buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu.

On June 12, 2017, Unknown X-742 Tanggok was disinterred from the Punchbowl and sent to the laboratory for identification.

To identify Yost's remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis, dental anthropological and chest radiograph comparison analysis, as well as circumstantial and material evidence.

DPAA is grateful to the Department of Veterans Affairs for their assistance in this recovery.

Today, 7,686 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. Yost’s name is recorded at 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) 699-14201/1169.

Yost’s personnel profile can be viewed at https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000000cdbTEAQ