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News Release

Press Release | May 3, 2013

Soldier Missing From Korean War Identified (Knight)

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) announced today that the remains of a U.S. serviceman, missing in action from the Korean War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

Army Sgt. William C. Knight, 20, of West Brookfield, Mass., will be buried May 10, in his hometown. In late November 1950, Knight and elements of the Headquarters Battery, 57th Field Artillery Battalion, 31st Regimental Combat Team (RCT) were engaged by enemy forces east of the Chosin Reservoir in North Korea. On Dec. 1, 1950, remnants of the 31st RCT, known historically as Task Force Faith, began a fighting withdrawal to a more defensible position near the Hangaru-ri, south of the reservoir.

During the withdrawal, the 31st RCT encountered an enemy road block that forced their U.S. truck convoy off the road. The convoy came under intense enemy fire, resulting in numerous casualties. It was during this attack that Knight was reported missing.

In August 2002, a joint U.S/Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (D.P.R.K) team excavated a mass grave on the eastern side of the Chosin Reservoir; near the last-known location of Knight. During this excavation operation, the team recovered remains from the site.

In the identification of the remains, scientists from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory (AFDIL) used circumstantial evidence, compiled by DPMO and JPAC researchers, and forensic identification tools, such as dental comparison, to identify Knight. They also used mitochondrial DNA–which matched Knight’s two brothers.

Today, more than 7,900 Americans remain unaccounted for from the Korean War.

For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO website at http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo or call (703) 699-1420.