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News Release

Press Release | Nov. 7, 2019

Soldier Accounted For From Korean War (Dye, K.)

WASHINGTON  –   The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced that Army Pfc. Karl L. Dye, 17, of Marion, Ohio, killed during the Korean War, was accounted for on Dec. 3, 2018.

(This identification was initially published Dec. 12, 2018.)

In July 1950, Dye was a member of Battery B, 52nd Field Artillery Battalion, 24th Infantry Division, engaged in combat operations against Democratic People’s Republic of Korea forces near Taejon, South Korea. According to a witness, he was seriously wounded by an enemy mortar shell and placed in an ambulance. The ambulance allegedly encountered an enemy roadblock. Dye was reported missing in action on July 16, 1950.

In October 1950, one set of remains, designated “Unknown X-159 Taejon,” was recovered in the vicinity of Taejon. Despite several attempts, the remains could not be identified and were subsequently sent to the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu, where they were buried as an Unknown.

On Oct. 16, 2017, Unknown X-159 was disinterred from the Punchbowl and sent to the DPAA laboratory.

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

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

Today, 7,606 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. Dye’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl 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 family information, contact the Army Service Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.

Dye will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia. The date has not been set. For future funeral information, visit www.dpaa.mil.

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.

Dye’s personnel profile can be viewed at
https://dpaa.secure.force.com/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt000000DtbU8EAJ