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News Release

Press Release | Jan. 7, 2022

Soldier Accounted For From Korean War (Cherry, R.B.)

WASHINGTON  –   The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that Army Cpl. R.B. Cherry, 19, of Dallas, who died as a prisoner of war during the Korean War, was accounted for May 19, 2020.

In late 1950, Cherry was a member of Company G, 2nd Battalion, 24th Infantry Regiment, 25th Infantry Division. He was reported missing in action on Nov. 27, 1950, near Anju, North Korea. Using information provided by returned POWs after the war, it was determined that Cherry had been a POW in Camp 5 and died of pneumonia sometime in the winter of 1950. His remains were reportedly buried in a cemetery near the camp and were not recovered.

During Operation GLORY in 1954, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea returned the remains of just over 4,200 individuals, of which nearly 3,000 were determined to be American. During the subsequent processing and identification of these remains, none were associated with Cherry, and he was declared non-recoverable Jan. 16, 1956. At the end of the identification process, 848 unidentified remains, including one designated X-13460 Operation GLORY, were interred at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, also known as the Punchbowl, in Honolulu, Hawaii.

In 2018, X-13460 and thirteen other unknowns thought to be associated with remains from the 1st Marine Division (MARDIV) Cemetery that had been at Yudam-ni, near the Chosin Reservoir, were disinterred following recommendation from DPAA researchers. It was determined that some of the remains thought to be from the 1st MARDIV Cemetery, including X-13460, actually came from the cemetery near Camp 5.

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

Cherry’s name is recorded on the Courts of the Missing at the Punchbowl, along with the others who are still missing from the Korean War. A rosette will be placed next to his name to indicate he has been accounted for.

Cherry will be buried in his hometown. The date has yet to be determined.

For family and funeral information, contact the Army Casualty Office at (800) 892-2490.

To see the most up-to-date statistics on DPAA recovery efforts for those unaccounted for from the Korean War, go to the Korean War fact sheet on the DPAA website at: https://www.dpaa.mil/Resources/Fact-Sheets/Article-View/Article/569610/progress-on-korean-war-personnel-accounting/

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, or find us on social media at www.facebook.com/dodpaa or https://www.linkedin.com/company/defense-pow-mia-accounting-agency.

Cherry’s personnel profile can be viewed at
https://dpaa-mil.sites.crmforce.mil/dpaaProfile?id=a0Jt000000GKLywEAH.