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News Release

Press Release | Oct. 30, 2018

Funeral Announcement For Soldier Killed During Korean War (Mills, A.)

WASHINGTON  –   The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced 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 Cpl. Albert E. Mills, 20, of Dallas, accounted for on July 13, 2018, will be buried November 12 in his hometown. In July 1950, Mills was a member of Company F, 2nd Battalion 5th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division, blocking the Korean People’s Army from advancing along a corridor linking the cities of Taejon and Taegu. South Korea. On July 23, 1950, enemy forces attacked American defenses at Yongdong. Mills was reported missing in action on July 25, 1950, as a result of the fighting, when he could not be accounted for by his unit.

On March 28, 1950, based in information provided by a local witness, an American Graves Registration Search and Recovery team recovered two sets of remains from a mountain near Yongdong. The remains, designated X-851 and X-852, were interred in the United Nation’s Military Cemetery (UNMC) Tanggok in April 1951.

In an effort to support identification attempts, remains recovered throughout South Korea were sent to the Central Identification Command in Kokura, Japan, for identification. While X-851 was positively identified, X-852 could not be associated with any missing service members. The remains were subsequently transferred to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu and buried as a Korean Unknown.

On April 9, 2018, DPAA disinterred “X-852 Tanggok” from the Punchbowl and sent the remains to the laboratory for identification.

To identify Mills’ remains, scientists from DPAA used anthropological, and chest radiograph comparison analysis which; as well as circumstantial evidence.

DPAA is grateful to the Department of Veterans Affairs for their partnership in this mission.

Today, 7,676 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. Mills’ 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.

Mills’ personnel profile can be viewed at https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt0000000cdNpEAI