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News Release

Press Release | Oct. 23, 2018

Funeral Announcement For Soldier Killed During Korean War (McDaniel, C.)

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 Master Sgt. Charles H. McDaniel. McDaniel, 32, of Vernon, Indiana, accounted for on Sept. 12, 2018, will be buried October 27 in Greenwood, Indiana. In November 1950, McDaniel was a medic with the 8th Cavalry Regiment Medical Company, supporting the Regiment’s 3rd Battalion. The unit was engaged with enemy forces of the Chinese People’s Volunteer Forces (CPVF,) southwest of the village of Unsan, and west of Hwaong-ri, North Korea. He was reported missing in action on Nov. 2, 1950, when he could not be accounted-for by his unit.

Throughout the remainder of the war, the United Nations Command regularly requested that the CPVF and Korean People’s Army (KPA) provide lists of American and allied servicemen held in their custody. No lists provided included his name as a prisoner of war, and no returning American prisoners provided any information on McDaniel. Based on the lack of information, the U.S. Army declared him deceased as of Dec. 31, 1953.

On June 12, 2018, President Donald Trump met with North Korea Supreme Leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore, in the first meeting between the leaders of the United States and North Korea. The leaders signed a joint statement, including a commitment to return the remains American service members lost in North Korea.

On July 27, 2018, North Korea turned over 55 boxes, purported to contain the remains of American service members killed during the Korean War. The remains arrived at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii on Aug. 1, 2018, and were subsequently accessioned into the DPAA laboratory for identification.

To identify McDaniel’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces Medical Examiner System used mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) analysis, dental, anthropological analysis and chest radiograph comparison analysis, as well as circumstantial and material evidence, including a single identification tag that was included in the July 27, turnover.

Today, 7,677 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. McDaniel’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 missing 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.

McDaniel’s personnel profile can be viewed at https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000000XelHEAS