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News Release

Press Release | Sept. 9, 2016

Soldier Missing From Korean War Accounted For (Dunn)

The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) announced today that the remains of a serviceman, missing from the Korean War, have been identified and will be returned to his family for burial with full military honors.

Army Cpl. Larry M. Dunn, 18, of Cullman, Alabama, will be buried Sept. 17 in Cullman, Alabama. On Dec. 1, 1950, Dunn was a member of Company B, 2nd Engineer Combat Battalion, 2nd Infantry Division, when his unit was fighting through a roadblock that was heavily defended by enemy forces near Sonchu, North Korea. Dunn went missing in action as a result of the battle.

Dunn never appeared on any list of the captured released by North Korea or the Chinese Communist Forces, nor did any repatriated Americans report that he was a fellow prisoner in any internment camp in North Korea. Because of the lack of information, the U.S. Army declared him deceased as of Dec. 31, 1953.

In 1954, United Nations and communist forces exchanged the remains of war dead in what came to be called “Operation Glory.” All remains recovered in Operation Glory were turned over to the Army’s Central Identification Unit for analysis. The remains they were unable to identify were interred as unknowns at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Hawaii, known as the “Punchbowl.”

In 1999, due to advances in technology, the Department of Defense began to re-examine records and concluded that the possibility for identification of some of these unknowns now existed. The remains designated X-14754 were exhumed on Aug. 20, 2015, so further analysis could be conducted.

To identify Dunn’s remains, scientists from DPAA and the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory used anthropological, dental and chest radiograph comparison analysis; which matched his records, as well as circumstantial and material evidence.

Today, 7,801 Americans remain unaccounted for from the Korean War. Using advances in technology, identifications continue to be made from remains that were previously turned over by North Korean officials or recovered by American teams.

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 call (703) 699-1420.