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News Release

Press Release | Jan. 23, 2012

Soldier Missing in Action From Korean War is Identified (Porter)

The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office 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 Pfc. George A. Porter, 21, of Philadelphia, will be buried Jan. 27, in Somerton, Pa. On Feb. 11, 1950, Porter and the Battery B, 15th Field Artillery Battalion were supporting South Korean forces in a major offensive near Hoengsong, South Korea when Chinese forces attacked in what became known as the “Hoengsong Massacre.” Porter and more than 100 men were taken as prisoners. Following the war, Porter’s remains were not accounted for.

Between 1991 and 1994, North Korea gave the United States 208 boxes of remains believed to contain the remains of 200-400 U.S. servicemen. North Korean documents, turned over with some of the boxes, indicated that some of the human remains were recovered in Suan County, which had been the location of the Suan Mining and Bean camps, where Porter was believed to have been held. A metal identification tag bearing Porter’s name was included among the remains.

Scientists from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory used forensic identification tools and circumstantial evidence, as well as mitochondrial DNA – which matched that of Porter’s sister and nephew – in the identification of the remains.

Today, more than 7,900 Americans remain unaccounted-for from the Korean War. Identifications continue to be made from the remains that were returned to the United States, using forensic and DNA technology.

For additional information on the Defense Department’s mission to account for missing Americans, visit the DPMO web site at http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo or call (703) 699-1169.