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 Cpl. Clyde E. Anderson, 24, of Hamilton, Ohio, will be buried May 12, in
Blanchester, Ohio. In late November 1950, Anderson and elements of the 31st Regimental
Combat Team, known as “Task Force Faith,” were advancing along the eastern banks of the
Chosin Reservoir, in North Korea. After coming under attack, they began a fighting withdrawal
to positions near Hagaru-ri, south of the Chosin Resevoir. On Nov. 28, 1950, Anderson, was
reportedly last seen driving a jeep in a convoy that was ambushed by Communist forces. He was
later listed as missing in action.
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 from the
area where Anderson had last been seen, 7 miles north of Hagaru-ri.
To identify the 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 dental records, radiography comparisons and mitochondrial DNA –
which matched Anderson’s nephew and niece.
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.