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News Release

Press Release | April 11, 2012

Soldier Missing in Action From Korean War Identified (Jennings)

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. Frank P. Jennings, 20, of Parsons, Tenn., will be buried April 13, in Holladay, Tenn. In late April 1951, Jennings and E Company, 2nd Battalion, 7th Infantry Regiment were battling Chinese Communist Forces near Jeon-Gog, South Korea. After three days of fighting, many Americans were killed, captured, or went missing. On April 25, Jennings was reported as missing in action, and his status was later changed to killed in action. His remains were not recovered in the years immediately following the end of the conflict, and there was no evidence that he had been taken to a prisoner of war camp.

In October 1986, members of the South Korean Army uncovered human remains while working near Jeon-Gog, which is north of current-day Camp Casey. The soldiers notified U.S. officials and on Oct. 23, 1986, personnel from the U.S. Army exhumed the remains. Additional material evidence, including a unit crest from the 7th Infantry Regiment, was also recovered from the site. The remains were not able to be identified at that time.

In 2002, due to advances in identification technology, the remains were submitted for DNA testing and dental comparisons. To identify Jennings’ remains, scientists from the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory used circumstantial evidence and forensic identification tools such as radiography, dental records and mitochondrial DNA – which matched Jennings’ sister.

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) 699-1420.